Summer Lee had predictably fiery words for U.S. President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans in Congress, but she also had sharp criticism for fellow elected Democrats at a Mar. 20 town hall.
“The entire Democratic party has to do better right now,” Lee said. “We have to decide in this moment what masters we are going to serve, and the reality is that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot be the party of our own corporate billionaires and the party of working-class people at the same time.”
Hundreds filled the ground-floor pews of the Hill District Ebenezer Baptist Church for a town hall with Lee, organized in conjunction with the Hill CDC, to address early concerns of the second Trump administration.
A few people went up and down the aisles collecting questions written on pieces of paper for organizers to read on a microphone to Lee. The crowd was sympathetic, giving Lee a standing ovation when she entered the room and was introduced by Hill CDC executive director Marimba Milliones.
Before answering questions, Lee spoke for about 10 minutes to make her own concerns clear. She asked audience members to raise their hands if they stood to lose critical support from programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, which targeted for cuts by Trump and the putative Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). By the time Lee got through all of the different programs and government initiatives, nearly everyone seemed to have raised their hand.
Throughout her remarks, Lee broadly targeted her congressional colleagues — in addition to calling on Democrats to do better for working people, Lee said Republicans need to oppose Trump’s authoritarian moves, such as the Trump administration’s bid to unilaterally destroy the Department of Education.
“What we really need is for Republicans to grow a spine,” Lee said. “The reality is … we cannot have a dictatorship unless the Republicans in the House and the Senate say [so] and give up their power as a co-equal branch of government. And we need to be putting pressure on them to remind them of why we are a co-equal branch of government. That’s what it takes.”
Though Lee criticized fellow Democrats, she never named names — U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in particular has faced steep criticism from the left for refusing to oppose the Republican funding bill that would have shut down the government if not passed.
Lee did speak in support of Al Green, a representative from Texas who heckled Trump during his first State of the Union address and spoke out against his efforts to cut Medicaid. She said that Democrats should have more strongly supported him rather than partially helping to censure him. Trump’s State of the Union address “paralyzed” Lee, she said.
“I sat in that room, and — I’m not gonna lie — and I looked across at the other side, and it looked like a lynch mob and felt like a lynch mob,” Lee said.
Lee signaled her longstanding alliance with Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey at moments during the town hall. She frequently referenced collaborations with Innamorato, who sat in a front-row seat near her, when the two previously served in the Pennsylvania state house. At another point, she emphasized her agreement with Gainey regarding housing.
“I’m not gonna get too political, but I agree with our mayor to make sure that we are doing things to make it easier for everyday people to get housing here, not easier for our developers to take more and cost and pay and charge more. Sorry,” Lee said. “Yes, I do agree that we want people to come to Pittsburgh, but I want to make sure that my grandma gets to stay in her community. I want to make sure your grandma gets to stay in her community.”
The questions read aloud covered climate change, education funding, affordable housing, free speech on college campuses and more.
Lee singled out money in politics as her number one issue. She referenced the multimillion dollar campaigns run against her, money injected into political races by billionaires such as Jeffrey Yass, and the successful, record-breakingly expensive campaigns that ousted progressive allies of hers.
“Not that I don’t care about racial justice or economic justice. Not that I don’t care about the price of eggs. I absolutely care about the price of eggs,” Lee said. “And I know that we’re not changing that until we get [megadonors] out of our politics.”
Toward the end of the event, Lee apologized for not getting to every question but promised there would be more events and opportunities to engage with her team. She encouraged the crowd to take their passion and engagement and make it as impactful as possible.
“If you are here today, you are probably someone who is already activated,” she told the assembled. “But we want to make sure that we’re helping to direct that so that we are having the biggest impact that we can. At the end of this day, I want to be able to take your voices back to D.C.”
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2025.
