Source: Politics<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Republicans were \u201centitled to five more seats\u201d in Texas, in one of his first public comments on the state\u2019s new proposed congressional map.<\/p>\n
Trump had remained quiet on the state\u2019s redrawn map since it was introduced, despite brewing commotion over the Republican partisan gerrymander that prompted dozens of state Democratic lawmakers to flee the state in a last-ditch attempt to block the map\u2019s passage over the weekend.<\/p>\n
The map could net Republicans as many as five seats in the state<\/a>. It has triggered an arms race across the country, with Democratic-controlled states \u2014 most notably California<\/a> \u2014 pledging to gerrymander their own maps in response.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas,\u201d Trump told CNBC\u2019s Squawk Box. \u201cI got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas Republicans last week unveiled a new congressional map of the state that, if passed by the state\u2019s legislature, would boost the party\u2019s chances of maintaining control of the House in the 2026 midterms. It came after pressure from the Trump aides to redraw the map, along with the Department of Justice alleging that the previous map could be illegal, even as Trump makes it clear the redraw is predominantly driven by politics.<\/p>\n Scores of Democratic state lawmakers left the state<\/a> in an attempt to stop Republicans from implementing the map by denying the legislature a quorum. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has repeatedly vowed to expel the absent Democrats from the legislature if they fail to return to the state for its ongoing special session.<\/p>\n Trump on Tuesday bashed the departed Democrats, some of whom fled to Illinois on Sunday<\/a>, calling the situation \u201cterrible.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew Howard contributed to this report.<\/p>\n