A boisterous — but mostly friendly crowd — greeted progressive Congressman Alan Lowenthal during his Monday evening town hall event at Long Beach City College.

Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, is now in his third term in the House of Representatives and his first with Republican President Donald Trump in the White House. Speaking to an ideologically-friendly audience, Lowenthal’s repeated statements of opposition to Trump Administration priorities such as repealing the Affordable Care Act, barring entry to the United States from six Muslim-majority countries and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border elicited nearly universal applause from the crowd gathered in the college’s auditorium.

Lowenthal received more cheers —and shouts of outrage from one of the few Trump supporters in the room —for criticizing the president’s demeanor.

“I don’t know where things are, I can just tell you that I personally find many of the comments that were made by the president to be inappropriate,” Lowenthal said. “We need a leader to bring us together.”

A loud voice that could be heard from a man sitting near the auditorium’s stage made it clear that not quite everyone in the room agreed with Lowenthal’s pronouncement.

“I don’t like you talking about my president like that,” the man shouted.

Voices of support, opposition

Several audience members’ questions signaled considerable anxiety over health care costs and immigration. On the latter issue, the sentiment was generally in opposition to the Trump Administration’s plans for more assertive immigration enforcement — a woman who identified herself as a teacher said she keeps her classroom door locked after a discussion stemming from fears of enforcement actions at schools —although one speaker spoke in favor of the president’s plans for a wall and demanded the death penalty for any undocumented immigrants who kill someone under the age of 18.

That same speaker also asked Lowenthal what he would tell California officials who may be at risk of losing federal funding for pursuing sanctuary policies that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation. Lowenthal, who had to ask the then-jeering crowd to let him speak, received a standing ovation for a response that praised “inclusion.”

Another speaker also expressed worries about her view that undocumented immigration leads to increased risks of crime, saying her nephew was slain at the hands of an undocumented immigrant. Responding to her, Lowenthal said he thinks the government can improve public safety by reducing the proliferation of guns, but doesn’t see undocumented immigration as a root cause of violence.

Disagreements with the White House

Lowenthal addressed several points on where he disagrees with the administration and Congressional Republicans. For example, he said he and other Democrats are “going to fight like hell” against potential budget cuts affecting the Environmental Protection Agency.

“They’re going to attack the bedrock laws that we put in place to protect our environment,” he said.

In response to a speaker who herself received a standing ovation for asking if he wants a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump Administration, it wasn’t clear if Lowenthal wanted that nature investigation, but he did say he and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, want a probe of recent events that would lead to disclosures beyond the halls of Congress.

Although he didn’t mention Russia and its alleged interference in the 2016 election by name, Lowenthal said there was a “massive attack on the United States” after remarks that more clearly signaled his distrust of the current man in the White House.

“It’s part of package. There are no taxes being released. There are massive conflicts of interest,” he said.