Democrats rip state GOP convention. Say party is out of line with Texas values
Democratic Texas lawmakers gathered outside the Henry B. Gonázles Convention Center Friday morning to speak out against the Texas Republican convention taking place inside.
Speakers included state Reps. Joaquin Castro, Trey Martinez Fischer and Josey Garcia of the San Antonio area, Rep. Gene Wu of Houston and Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin.
Martinez Fischer mentioned that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott would not be attending in person, as he was scheduled to, but rather remotely.
“You know how bad things are in a Republican Party when the governor will choose to Zoom it in than to come down for an hour to tell his party that they’re out of control,” Martinez Fischer said.
Abbott was slated to speak to the conference during roughly the same time of the Democrats’ press conference.
Abbott still had not spoken to the convention as of Friday afternoon.
Martinez Fischer also said that former Democrat U.S. Rep. Henry B. González, the namesake of the convention center who was the longest serving Hispanic in Congress, would be “rolling in his grave” now with the state of the Republican Party.
Castro mentioned the mass shooting in Uvalde on its two year anniversary. Following the shooting, a bill to raise the the minimum age for buying some semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21 failed. The Legislature did pass a bill requiring armed security at every school.
“After the shooting in Uvalde, just like the other mass shootings, what did Republican state leaders do? Absolutely nothing,” Castro said.
Four days before Memorial Day, Wu told people to remember the sacrifice American soldiers made to fight fascism in World War II.
“We’ll stand up to the, against the same ideas, the same principles,” he said. “We will stand up against racism. We’ll stand up against hate because those are not Texas values. And once again, 80 years later, if it’s necessary, we will defeat the Nazis again,” Wu said.
“Last time I checked, it’s pretty easy to get a hotel this weekend because this convention is underwhelming and it’s underwhelming for a reason,” Martinez Fischer said “Those values are out of step with mainstream Texans and there’s time for a change. And that’s why we’re here.”
A spokesperson for the Texas GOP said 9,600 delegates were in attendance for the convention.
There has not been a Democrat elected to statewide office in Texas since 1994.
