U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard faced a rowdy crowd in Kailua on Saturday night for one of seven town hall meetings that she’s holding throughout the islands.

Roughly 400 people poured into a hot auditorium at Kainalu Elementary School to hear Gabbard speak and ask her questions. Foremost on the minds of many were the conflict in Syria, in which Gabbard has taken some controversial stances, and President Donald Trump, whom she met with shortly after his election.

While Gabbard faced some tough questions, with a portion of the crowd at times turning hostile over her stances on Syria in particular, much of the crowd also cheered her enthusiastically and toted signs that read, “We Love Tulsi” and “Tulsi = Integrity.”

In opening comments, Gabbard criticized the Republicans’ failed health care proposal, calling it a “corporate giveaway bill rather than a health care bill.” She took aim at Trump’s proposed budget for slashing funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, social services and education, and talked about her long-standing concerns about North Korea’s nuclear capabilities as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea escalate.

But when the community meeting was opened up to questions, the subject matter quickly turned to Syria, where Gabbard traveled earlier this year and met with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Gabbard was criticized for the surprise trip by some of her colleagues in Congress and also took heat from political columnists for her decision to meet with Assad, who has been accused of war crimes during a civil war that has devastated the country.

Gabbard was also criticized by influential national leaders of the Democratic Party, including former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean, earlier this month for suggesting that Assad may not have been behind a recent chemical attack in Syria. Photos and video of the incident showed images of Syrians, including children, gasping for breath or dead on the ground, sparking outrage among Gabbard’s colleagues in Congress and prompting Trump to launch 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian government airfield.

While some cheered the swift response against the Assad regime, Gabbard said that the administration acted “recklessly” and should have waited for the results of the investigation into the chemical attack.

During Saturday’s meeting, one woman asked Gabbard pointedly why she met with Assad.

“What was the goal or the intention of being there and then, in particular, meeting with him? You are a legitimate representative for your country, but when you meet with a monster like that you legitimize him,” she said to cheers. “You don’t strike me as a woman who is arrogant enough to believe that in meeting with a man like that, you are going to impact him. So I wonder what could be the purpose.”

Gabbard reiterated her concerns about U.S. involvement in conflicts in the Middle East and her concerns that if Assad is removed from power, it could empower terrorist groups, such as al-Qaida and Islamic State. She said she met with Assad in an effort to find a path toward peace.

“In meeting and accepting the invitation to meet with Assad, my intention in doing that was to see how we can bring about peace in Syria,” Gabbard said. “That is something that if you look at history, if we want to bring about peace, if we want to bring about an end to conflict, we can’t do so just by sitting around and meeting with our friends. We can’t do so just by closing the doors and only talking with people who we agree with.”

Gabbard also received many written questions about her relationship with Trump, whom she met with in November after he was elected, setting off speculation about whether she would join his administration team. Gabbard said at the time that she discussed the situation with Syria and terrorism in the Middle East with Trump, but not a job.

On Saturday she said that she has had no further discussions with Trump.

Gabbard was also asked why she hadn’t signed a letter that many of her Democratic colleagues in Congress had sent to Trump denouncing Steve Bannon, a top adviser to the president and the former head of Breitbart News, which has garnered support from the “alt-right,” which is a white nationalist movement.

“I haven’t gotten into a name-calling game with regard to any of Trump’s nominees because I don’t see how that is productive or how that actually accomplishes anything when it comes to the policies that really will either be harmful or helpful to the people of our state,” Gabbard said to applause.

Gabbard said when it comes to policy issues, such as Syrian refugees, health care and the environment, she does speak up.