Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., today defended Democrats’ plans to make their own retaliatory maps in response to Texas Republicans’ efforts to redraw congressional lines.
At a press conference with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a group of Texas Democrats who fled the state to prevent the Texas House of Representatives from redrawing congressional lines in Republicans’ favor, Pelosi said that Democrats are using “self defense for our democracy,” rejecting the criticism that the party is participating in the same gerrymandering practices they’ve criticized from the right.
Newsom has pledged to respond to Texas’ actions by re-mapping California’s congressional districts.
“We are talking about emergency measures to respond to what’s happening in Texas, and we will nullify what happens in Texas,” Newsom said.
“We will pick up five seats with the consent of the people, and that’s the difference between the approach we’re taking and the approach they’re taking,” he added.
Newsom also took aim at Trump, accusing him of ordering Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw congressional lines because he knows that he’ll lose in the midterms if the maps aren’t redrawn.
Earlier today, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit to remove 13 of the Texas Democrats who broke quorum, including Democratic state Rep. Ann Johnson, who called the move “desperate.”
“It just follows a long line of threats, right? I mean, we can tell they’re desperate. I mean, they are throwing everything at us that they can,” Johnson said.
“Make no mistake about it. We are running from nothing. We see the danger that is coming, and we are running straight for it,” she added.