Trump says GOP “entitled” to more Texas seats

The Texas Tribune - President Donald Trump said Republicans are “entitled” to more congressional seats in Texas in a Tuesday morning interview on CNBC.

“I won Texas,” Trump said. “I got the highest vote in the history of Texas. And we are entitled to five more seats.”

Trump last year had the highest-ever number of votes in a presidential election in Texas, whose number of voters have grown along with its overall population. But Trump didn’t set a record for his margin of victory in Texas.

Trump pushed Texas Republicans to pursue mid-decade congressional redistricting, including personally lobbying Gov. Greg Abbott on the issue. Texas’ pursuit of more GOP-friendly seats spurred state House Democrats to flee the state to block the Legislature from passing new maps. The redistricting effort has also kicked off a redistricting arms race between red and blue states around the country.

In the CNBC interview, Trump praised Abbott and lambasted Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat who helped Texas House Democrats coordinate the logistics of their trip to Illinois and has participated in press conferences with them.

Calling Pritzker, “the dumbest of all governors”, Trump said Democrats fleeing to Illinois, where Democrats drew a congressional map that heavily favors their party, was hypocritical.

“They go to Illinois for safety, but that’s all gerrymandered,” he said.

Trump further complained about the lack of Republican congressional representation in states like California and Massachusetts, despite winning close to 40% of the vote, echoing comments made by Vice President JD Vance.