Town Hall Attendees Weren't From My District, Blackburn Says; Yes, They Were, Says Fairview Mayor

FAIRVIEW, TN — Rep. Marsha Blackburn held a spirited and heated town hall in Fairview Tuesday and was peppered with questions about President Donald Trump's tax returns, the future of Obamacare, the immigration executive orders — which she conceded were rolled out haphazardly — and myriad other topics.

And the Brentwood Republican is claiming that the majority of the 100 or so people packed into the hall were from outside of her Seventh Congressional District.

On CNN's "AC360" Wednesday night she told interviewer Anderson Cooper that only a third of the people in attendance were her constituents.

She repeated that claim on CNN on Thursday.

Her claim — which echoes a sentiment from Trump, who has raised the specter of "paid protesters" numerous times — is not going unchallenged.

A New York Times reporter who headed to tiny Fairview for the town hall said there was ample evidence Blackburn's claim was bogus.

Now, town officials in Fairview are getting involved. Mayor Patti Carroll took an informal poll before Blackburn's appearance, according to The Tennessean, and "nearly everyone" raised their hand when asked if they were from the district.

The Tennessean said Blackburn's office would not be quoted about the evidence she had about the geographic make-up of the town hall, but the newspaper said her staff insisted the information came from Fairview city officials. But Fairview's city manager said that couldn't be true, either.

“We only had a list of names,” Scott Collins told the newspaper. “We have no other information, no addresses, to determine where they live.”

Meanwhile, the group Indivisible Tennessee is working through the list of attendees and has already confirmed that more than half of those in attendance were from the Seventh District.

Image via Marsha Blackburn