CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) Sen. Mark Warner said he hears and understands constituents calls for him to be more vocal and vehement in his resistance to the policies of the Trump Administration, but Warner said he won’t give up on finding bi-partisan answers to many of today’s most significant issues.

“It’s such a scary time,” Warner told Cville Right Now on Saturday after his Charlottesville Town Hall event. “I’m going to keep working, not only with the folks who agree with me or the folks who are mad at me for certain things, but the folks who supported President Trump. I’m going to try to make the case that there’s a better way. That we’re not this cruel of a country.”

A standing-room crowd of about 600 people attended Warner’s Saturday morning event at the Jefferson Theater. For over two hours, the Senator answered questions from attendees – about 30 queries in all – on a wide range of topics both local and national.

It was an audience that was overwhelmingly White and older, something he addressed during the event and again while speaking with Cville Right Now shortly after its conclusion.

“I think there are things we can change,” Warner said of efforts to reach a more diverse crowd. “Frankly, young people, they don’t want to hear talk. They want to see something that affects their life.”

After being introduced by State Delegate Katrina Callsen, State Senator Creigh Deeds and former House of Representatives member Tom Perriello, Warner fielded questions from audience members, who lined the aisles waiting their turn to speak at microphones set up to either side of the front of the hall.

Some were focused on hyper-local issues, including the Unite the Right violence in 2017, and the shooting deaths of three UVA football players in 2022.

Charlottesville School Board member Chris Meyer questioned Warner about the Department of Education going back on its pledge to give the Federal Executive Institute property to the school division, opting instead to turn it over to UVA.

Warner also was asked extensively about the impact of Trump’s budget reconciliation bill, answering questions about the impact to Medicare and Medicaid. He talked about veterans affairs, childcare, ICE procedures, voter turnout and vaccinations.

“I never thought in 2025 we’d be talking about going away from science,” Warner told the crowd.

During his remarks and responses, he called for the resignation or termination of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of Homeland Security Krisi Noem and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Each of those calls elicited cheers from the crowd.

But multiple questioners criticized Warner for being too comfortable working with Republicans within the constructs of the Congress, telling the Senator that his opponents had abandoned many of the norms that have traditionally governed American politics.

It’s something Warner said he was prepared for, mentioning in his opening remarks, “I’m going to get my grief today for trying to work with Republicans.”

Warner used most of his opening statement to rail against Trump’s budget bill, discussing its impact on healthcare, food assistance and clean energy.

“It’s as bad as anything I’ve seen,” said the career politician and former Virginia governor.

Warner repeatedly praised Charlottesville and the surrounding area for its support of peaceful protests, like Saturday’s No King’s rally, railing against Trump’s use of the National Guard in Los Angeles – over the Governor’s objections – and his planned military parade Saturday in Washington D.C.

“It scares the hell out of me,” Warner told Cville Right Now. “I remember the old days when the Republicans were for states’ rights and, all of a sudden, now you’re saying, ‘No, we the feds are going to override the governor?’ That’s crazy.”