New York Declares 'War' in Response to Texas GOP Redistricting Plan
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced "this is a war" on Monday as she was joined by Texas Democrats who left their state to prevent Republican Governor Greg Abbott's mid-decade vote to redraw U.S. House maps.
"Here in New York, we will not stand on the sidelines with the timid souls on the sidelines who don't care will not invest their heart and soul into this battle," she said at a joint press conference in New York. "This is a war. We are at war, and that's why the gloves are off. And I say, bring it on with that."
"What Texas and Republican states are doing at the direction of Donald Trump, I say, is nothing short of a legal insurrection against our Capital," she added. "If Republicans are willing to rewrite these rules to give themselves an advantage, then they're leaving us no choice, we must do the same. There's a phrase, 'you have to fight fire with fire.' That is a true statement of how we're feeling right now. And as I've said, another overused but applicable phrase, 'all is fair in love and war' — that's why I'm exploring with our leaders every option to redraw our state congressional lines as soon as possible."
Gov. Abbott has threatened to remove the Texas Democrats from office if they don't return by Monday afternoon.
However, the lawmakers say they have no plans to return to their home state today.
"This is a war, we're building a coalition," added Mihaela Plesa, Vice Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus.
This is a breaking news story, updates to follow.
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