Following other protests held in the Northland in opposition to President Trump, a large crowd of demonstrators gathered in Hermantown to call on Representative Pete Stauber on February 23.

As with other recent protests, those in the crowd chanted slogans and held signs denouncing the Trump administration, and especially Elon Musk. Many also called on Stauber and other Republicans in congress to do more to “stand up” to the White House, as well as Musk.

“The first thing is that I think they should rein in Elon Musk. I don’t think he has any constitutional authority to be doing what he’s doing,” said Brian Vroman, a veteran and member of Itasca Area Indivisible, “I want them to assert their authority as a separate branch of government and not just cede all their power to the executive.”

Vroman said that his group wants to talk to Rep. Stauber about Musk, Medicaid and other issues, but claims that despite attempts to get in touch with the office, he hasn’t heard back.

“We want to talk to our representative. We’ve been calling his office both here and in D.C. We’ve been emailing. We’ve been asking for a meeting and he’s ghosting us. And we don’t think that’s right. Whether he agrees with on the issues or not, he should be willing to talk to his constituents.”

Protesters were gathered outside of Stauber’s office in Hermantown, setting up along the intersection of Highway 53 and Lavaque Road.

WDIO has reached out Rep. Stauber’s office for an official comment on the protest but have not yet received a response. Should one be given, it will be posted here.