00:00Republican lawmakers in Texas are in the midst of leading an aggressive redistricting effort.
00:05They are trying to pass a redrawn congressional map that would potentially help them flip five seats.
00:10Democrats in the state's house have since left the state to avoid a quorum needed to pass the map.
00:16This redrawn map would largely affect your district.
00:20So to start off the conversation, A, what's your reaction?
00:23And B, can you explain to the rest of the nation what exactly is happening in Texas right now?
00:28What's happening in Texas is that Donald Trump does not want to have a free and fair midterm election.
00:37He's the most corrupt president in American history.
00:40And so he's trying to shove through this corrupt plan to violate the Voting Rights Act and drastically change Texas's districts so that he can never get held accountable.
00:52Well, Texas Democrats are fighting back.
00:54That's why our state legislative Democrats have used a maneuver that has existed as long as our state has existed.
01:02They have broken a quorum.
01:04It means they're traveling all across the nation to raise the alarm about this plan.
01:09And since they aren't on the House floor, that temporarily blocks the maps.
01:13And so we are fighting back with everything we've got and are making our message clear that voters should be the ones that pick their elected officials, not a president, not a governor.
01:24Donald Trump shouldn't be able to pick your elected official for you.
01:27And I think it's safe to say that Texas Republicans aren't happy with Texas Democrats leaving the state.
01:33Your state's governor, Greg Abbott, ordered that these Democrats be arrested.
01:38And he said this, quote, by fleeing the state, Texas House Democrats are holding hostage critical legislation to aid flood victims and advance property tax relief.
01:47There are consequences for dereliction of duty.
01:49What are your thoughts of his framing there?
01:52We should call Governor Abbott Governor Gaslighter because Texas Democrats have said over and over again that we're ready to work on rebuilding from the flood, ready to work on relief for flood victims.
02:06But Governor Abbott has made our special legislative session all about redistricting and carrying Donald Trump's water.
02:14So I think it's a massive disrespect to those who experienced national disaster or are scared of natural disasters that Governor Abbott continues to politicize the Texas legislative session instead of focusing on doing what's right by the people of Texas.
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