Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke is defending Texas House Democrats who left Texas to block their Republican colleagues from drawing new political maps. O’Rourke’s campaign to build support for the Democrats comes as his political group, Powered by People, faces an investigation over funding for the Democrats’ out-of-state travel.
Governor Greg Abbott has said that 54 Democratic House lawmakers “have abandoned their office” and has filed with the Texas Supreme Court to vacate their positions.
Speaking to nearly 150 people at the Mesquite Event Center in downtown Abilene on Sunday, O’Rourke told the crowd, “I mean, who are we? Against all of them? Now they want more power, they’re trying to steal these 5 congressional districts right here in our state. And you can forgive them for trying! Everyone else, no matter their wealth or their power or their status in this country, has bent the knee and has done their bidding. But I don’t think they anticipated the fight that I see here in this room.”
O’Rourke said House Democrats paid for their own travel and did not use government funding. He noted they are fined $500 for every day they are not in Texas and “make just around $7,000 a year in their position of public trust.”
He warned that if the Texas Supreme Court fails to act, “the consolidation of authoritarian power in the United States will be nearly unstoppable.”
O’Rourke also criticized President Donald Trump. “I don’t care how long you’ve been on this planet, I don’t think it has ever been as dark as it is right now,” he said. “He has defied the federal courts, this co-equal branch of government rejecting and ignoring their court orders one after another. He has dismantled congressionally mandated and chartered and appropriated agencies like the USAID or the Department of Education or Meals on Wheels… He seeks to dispense with every constitutional safeguard or protection up until now, these 249 years have kept us a nation of laws and of kings.”
O’Rourke said that the next time a Democrat is president, they should prioritize protecting immigrants’ rights, including birthright citizenship. He added that the past two Democratic presidents “achieved great things” but did not follow through on immigration promises.