From time to time, Trump has met with Democratic lawmakers, seen a protester escorted out of a rally, or driven past someone carrying a protest sign from the insulation of his motorcade. And Pence, in a rare, public, direct interaction with someone who disagreed with his principles, was once confronted by a Medicaid and Medicare expansion advocate while dropping into an Iowa diner for a reelection campaign stop.
By and large, though, the White House does not put the President in a position to be challenged by everyday Americans who oppose his political views. In fact, it’s quite rare for a modern American president to be publicly confronted by everyday Americans dissenting from their administrations’ policies. Every meeting, roundtable and event is carefully curated with guests vetted by White House staff.
But there is precedent for US presidents to meet with activists and civil rights leaders, or, in at least one case, to visit the sites of mass protests rooted in racial tensions.
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