At a Texas Democrats press brifing in Chicago, Illinois, Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX) slammed a Republican gerrymandering plan and responded to the issuing of warrants for the civil arrest of Texas state lawmakers who fled the state.
00:00The most beautiful group of people, you know, it is such, it's a big honor for me to be standing here as a former colleague, a former member of the Texas House, a former quorum breaker, and protesting the right to vote in Texas, and now as a member of Congress.
00:30And, you know, what is happening is so outrageous.
00:37And I want to talk a little bit about my district and the impact that this is having.
00:44So I represent Texas 32nd Congressional District.
00:48It's an urban district.
00:50It's 80% in Dallas County.
00:53A little bit of the Collin County, the county to my north, and a little bit of Denton County.
00:58But for the most part, it's very urban.
01:01There's not a single farm plot in Texas 32.
01:06They have divided it into seven new congressional districts.
01:13Two that go all the way to the Oklahoma border.
01:18Two that go almost from Dallas to the Louisiana border.
01:22And then the others in a mishmash of rural Texas.
01:30My district has been, I have seven cities that have been dismembered, paired with six to seven rural counties.
01:40So what they've done is they've taken a group of people, predominantly minority.
01:48I have a minority-majority coalition seat of a city, and then paired it with five to six rural counties that have no commonality of interest whatsoever.
02:00So the issues facing the constituents of my district are very different than the issues facing the constituents of Upshur County, which is in very east Texas.
02:16They're very different issues.
02:17I have 62% renters.
02:21That county is mostly rural white farmers.
02:24And the list goes on and on.
02:29And so what is happening here is the most blatant, racist disregard for the voters of Texas.
02:39Because let me remind you, and I was there, we were all there when these maps were passed in 2021.
02:47By unanimous votes of the Republicans, who have just now issued arrest warrants for my dear colleagues and friends.
02:57Because they all swore at that time, these maps were the most beautiful maps.
03:03They were perfect.
03:05They didn't disenfranchise voters.
03:07They've had lawsuits.
03:08They've filed affidavits.
03:09They've given depositions.
03:10They've sworn in ways to Sunday that these are the perfect maps.
03:15Until President Trump gets nervous.
03:20Because his poll numbers are in the crapper.
03:24Because he knows that the American people are not swallowing the crap he's pushing.
03:31Because he's harming millions and millions of people.
03:35His poll waters are underwater.
03:38And he knows he's not going to win.
03:40He knows he's not going to win in November of 2026.
03:43So rather than push for policies that the American voters want to support,
03:48they come back with this rigged up thing, a DOJ opinion,
03:54that implies that these Texas maps now have to be completely dismembered.
04:00And it's wrong.
04:02And the voters of Texas, I hope, are listening.
04:05Because the courage that my dear friends and colleagues are showing by saying,
04:11uh-uh, no.
04:13We're protesting.
04:14We're putting ourselves at a great risk to stand up for democracy and America.
04:21And voters, I hope you're seeing that.
04:23I hope you're feeling it.
04:24I hope you are experiencing the courage and the hope that these folks are providing.
04:32Because what is happening is an attack on our democracy throughout this entire country.
04:37And I'm so pleased and so proud that they're standing up for us all.
04:43Because what's happening here now, it's cracking throughout.
04:46Other states, you know, we're having a national conversation over voter rights.
04:53And I want to encourage California and New York and Maryland and Washington State to say,
05:01you know what, we're gloves are off.
05:03If war is war and Democrats, if y'all are going to do it in Texas, we're going to do it here.
05:07And this is a national war.
05:10And Democrats are no longer going to sit by handcuffed.
05:15This is an all-out war and everything is on the table.
05:18And that is a message I really hope gets out loud and clear.
05:25But at the end of the day, I want to say thank you to each one of you for what you're doing.
05:32Know that the Democrats of the United States House of Representatives are 100% behind you.
05:40I hope you're feeling it.
05:41And I hope you out there, the voters, are getting a little glimmer of why politics is important.
05:48And that if you, they say, well, I don't know.
05:50Politics doesn't affect me.
05:52I'm saying, honey, it does.
05:53If you don't do politics, politics will do you.
05:56And here we are.
05:59Politics is doing a lot of people right now.
06:02But, you know, I want to end with this.
06:05We're all very proud Texans up here.
06:08Most of us.
06:09Some are proud.
06:11We're all very proud Texans.
06:15We come from a state of great pride.
06:18And I never thought, as a Texan, as an elected member of the Texas House of Representatives,
06:24and now as an elected member from Texas to the United States House of Representatives,
06:29that I would see the governor of the proud state of Texas bend a knee to a felon from New York.
