Jeffries slams Texas governor as ‘cowardly, fake bully’ after calling for arrests of Democrats

The U.S. House Democratic leader says Gov. Gregg Abbott is trying to help President Donald Trump “rig” the 2026 midterm elections.

After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for the arrests of more than 50 Democrats who fled the state to prevent the passing of a controversial voting map, Congress’s top Democrat, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, called Abbott’s actions “cowardly” and praised Texas Democrats for their “courage,” “character,” and “conviction.”

“The Texas governor is a cowardly, fake bully,” said Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. The New York congressman slammed Abbott and Texas Republicans for, at the direction of President Donald Trump, redrawing the state’s congressional map to give national Republicans an advantage in maintaining their majority power in Congress.

“He was ordered by Donald Trump to convene a special session of the legislature in order to gerrymander the Texas congressional map and try to rig the midterm elections,” Jeffries told MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera on Monday.

The coordinated redistricting plan targets five congressional seats in Texas, all of which are predominantly Black and Latino. Voters of color in those districts are packed into new districts containing a majority of white and Republican-leaning voters. The map particularly dismantles Texas’s 9th Congressional District, represented by longtime Black Congressman Al Green, retaining only 2% of his current district.

In an attempt to prevent, or at least delay, Republicans’ map approval, Texas Democrats in the House fled the state, resulting in Gov. Abbott and Republicans calling for their arrests.

“Texas House Democrats abandoned their duty to Texans,” Abbott said in a statement. “By fleeing the state, Texas House Democrats are holding hostage critical legislation…There are consequences for dereliction of duty.”

In defense of the Democrats’ protest, Jeffries said the Texas map violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting and undergirds Black voters’ right to elect candidates of their choice. The Democratic leader vowed that Democrats would fight back by challenging maps in court and, as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul made clear, redrawing maps of their own.

When Cabrera asked whether Democrats risked committing the same offense as Republicans if they followed through on redistricting maps to benefit the party’s chances in next year’s midterm elections, Jeffries vowed that Democrats would “operate within the constraints” of the Voting Rights Act.

The Democratic leader, who would become the first Black speaker of the U.S. House if Democrats take back the majority next year, said that, ultimately, the political fight in Texas is part of a larger battle against Trump and his agenda.

“We’re in the middle of an all-out assault by Donald Trump and Republican sycophants on the economy, on health care, on our way of life, on law-abiding immigrant communities, on democracy itself,” Jeffries explained.

The House leader said Trump urged Texas Republicans to add five more seats to his party’s advantage because he is “afraid” that voters will “reject” his agenda at the ballot box.

“This impotent House Republican majority that has done nothing to improve the quality of life for everyday Americans, done nothing to lower the high cost-of-living, nothing to give these hard-working American taxpayers across the country the ability to thrive,” Jeffries explained. He continued, “People can barely survive, and Donald Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy in real time.”

Jeffries said Democrats’ current three-seat minority is a “historically close number”—something he believes has Trump and Republicans “scared to death.”

The House Democratic leader urged voters not to be “disheartened” or “dismayed” amid deep dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, as polls show.

“[Democrats] are going to continue to show up and stand up and speak up. We’re going to end this national nightmare in America, and we’re going to continue our country’s march toward a more perfect union,” said Jeffries.