Amid strong opposition from the Democratic Party regarding the redistricting efforts underway in Texas, a 'stronghold' of the Republican Party, President Donald Trump said, "The Democrats have already done this in several places."
After a signing ceremony for an executive order at the White House, President Trump responded to reporters' questions by saying, "The redistricting happening now is something the Democrats have been doing long before we started."
He also said, "They (the Democrats) did it in New York and in other states, including Massachusetts."
President Trump noted, "This morning I saw the Democrats raising issues about (redistricting), and where is that? In states where they have already changed the districts, like Illinois or Massachusetts, where Democratic support is strong."
Currently, in Texas, the Republican Party is pursuing redistricting to increase its seats in the House of Representatives ahead of next year's mid-term elections. In response, the Democratic Party is also pursuing redistricting in California and New York.
President Trump argued, "I received 40% of the votes in Massachusetts (in the last presidential election), but the state's House of Representatives seats are all held by Democrats. There is not a single Republican. We should have had about 40% of the seats, but they changed the districts."
To block the vote on the redistricting proposal in Texas, Democratic lawmakers from the region are leaving for distant places outside of Texas, such as Illinois or New York. In response, President Trump criticized, "They abandoned the state," and when asked if he would mobilize the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to arrest them, he said, "I might have to do that."