Texas Rep. Al Green (D), who is not shy about his sharing his grievances with the president, attended a Tejano Democrats press conference this week. In the press conference, Rep. Green denounced President Donald Trump’s (R) redistricting plea, calling it “race based.”
At the center of the controversy are districts 9, 18, 29, and 33, which Rep. Green clarified “are represented by people of color.” When the president was asked about Texas having a redrawn map, he supported the idea, claiming that Republicans would pick up five more seats.
Citing a letter from the U.S. attorney general, the letter reads that “if the state of Texas fails to rectify the racial gerrymandering of TX09, 18, 29, and 33, the attorney general reserves the right to seek legal action against the state, including, without limitation, under the 14th amendment.”
This, Rep. Green argues, is a clear sign that President Trump is calling for a redrawn map based on race.
“We are not the persons playing the race card. The president has played the race card,” Rep. Green reiterated.
At the Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting meeting this week, Texas Democrats testified, making the same claim.
Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D) took it a step further by claiming that the effort to redistrict is an attempt by the president and Republicans to eventually repeal the Voting Rights Act.
Chair Cody Vasut (R) disputed the claim.
Rep. Al Green however maintains that the GOP's push to redraw districts is clearly motivated by race, and he intends to push back against the move.
“If the president can make race an issue to start this process, then we can talk about race as an issue. There is nothing wrong with us now saying this is a race-based operation," he argued. "It’s a race-based plan. It is a race-based collusion. It is race-based from start, and they’re gonna have it race-based to the finish.”
“They plan to eliminate minority voices,” the Texas Democrat warned.
