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‘So proud’: Obama pumps up fugitive Texas Dems to continue their resistance

August 15, 2025 | | Print Article

Former President Barack Obama has inserted himself into the high-stakes showdown between AWOL Texas Democrats and Gov. Greg Abbott, who backs an effort to redraw congressional maps to roll back Democrat gerrymandering.

The fugitive lawmakers have taken refuge in Democrat-run states as the party digs in to wage a fierce political battle with national implications, seeing their chances of retaking the House and impeaching President Donald J. Trump imperiled by redistricting that would nullify the unfair advantages that they have built into the system for themselves.

Obama took part in a Thursday call with the Texas Dems, who have been showing signs of wavering, looking to buck up their spirits and keep them out of state amid threats that there could be steep consequences for their subversion of the democratic process, including arrest and the potential stripping of their seats.

The former president joined his “wingman,” former Attorney General Eric Holder, who is quarterbacking the Texas resistance through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), an organization that he founded in 2017 during Trump’s first term, describing itself as the “first-ever strategic hub for a comprehensive redistricting strategy,” fancy language that cloaks the Democrats’ race-based gerrymandering.

Obama “lauded their fight against the Republican efforts to enact an even more egregious gerrymander in Texas ahead of the midterms,” a spokesperson for the former president said in a statement, according to The Hill.

“He made clear that they are part of a bigger effort to protect free and fair elections and commended them for inspiring others with their actions,” the Obama spox added.

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“I am so proud of the @TexasHDC and the work that they’ve done. Their willingness to put themselves on the line to highlight the current assault on our democracy has set an example for what all of us have to do,” the Russiagate kingpin and racial arsonist said in a post to X.

In an X post thanking Obama, Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu, the “ringleader” of the absentee Dems, wrote, “We are encouraged by your words and remain committed to fighting for democracy, in Texas & across the country.”

Wu’s words are yet another example of how the Democrats have perverted the term “democracy” to mean anything but, because there is nothing even remotely democratic about sabotaging the process by fleeing the state rather than just showing up to vote as he and his fellow on-the-lam lawmakers were elected to do.

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Obama must have worked his magic because Wu seemed to be much cheerier than he was during a weekend appearance on MSNBC, where the haggard-looking Democrat whined about the stress of flying the coop as buzz began to build that the Texas Democrats would soon be throwing in the towel.

“The fact that we have to meet President Obama from an undisclosed location and via Zoom because of Republican threats and surveillance only proves how desperate Abbott and his extremist allies have become,” Wu told ABC News. “They know their racial gerrymandering scheme is falling apart, so they’re resorting to intimidation tactics. But President Obama’s support shows the whole country is watching — and Texas House Democrats won’t be silenced by bullies.”

The Texas Democrats could be ending their holdout once California moves to keep the party’s House advantage in place through its own redistricting scheme, which was formally announced by Commander Gerrymander himself on Thursday.

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The ferocious efforts to keep their gerrymandering advantage once again show how Democrats are only able to hold political power through cheating, and this will continue to be the case with the majority of the country now hating them.

“The Democrats announced they will return provided that Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn map proposal, both of which were expected to happen Friday,” the Associated Press reported, although the Democrats stopped short of saying when they would go back.

Chris Donaldson
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