Barack Obama is not hesitating. The former president blasted Donald Trump’s quest for a drastic mid-decade redistricting of Texas in a heated 30-minute Zoom session with Texas state Democrats, claiming it was a risky attempt to slant democracy in the GOP’s advantage.
Obama gave the Texas House Democratic Caucus members, who had left town earlier this month to prevent Republicans from obtaining a quorum, a scathing speech that combined strategy with indignation, calling on the lawmakers to defend the country’s democratic values.
I am incredibly pleased of the job that the @TexasHDC has done. They have set an example for what we must all do by being willing to risk their lives to draw attention to the ongoing attack on our democracy.This link: https://t.co/jA2giVOMW1
August 15, 2025, Barack Obama (@BarackObama)
In order to prevent a vote on the new congressional maps—which Trump has been openly advocating to redraw now rather than after the next census—the group of Democrats fled to Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts. Democrats claim the idea would help Republicans secure control of the House and give them an additional five seats in the next midterm elections.
Obama criticized the administration’s wider strategies, including gerrymandering, voter suppression, attempts to reverse election results, politicizing the military and the Department of Justice, and even militarizing cities, without naming Trump.
Obama cautioned that these trends serve as a reminder that our valuable democracy is not guaranteed. It’s not done by itself. We have to struggle for it. It is our responsibility to defend it. In order to lessen their influence, he accused Republicans of designing boundaries that split Democratic votes or cram them into a single district after realizing their policies were unpopular. “That’s unfair,” he stated bluntly. Democracy is not meant to function that way.
Gavin Newsom criticizes Trump in only six words for relocating President Obama’s official portrait to a section of the White House that is off-limits to the general public. Newsom: Little folks hide from the giants of history.Twitter: pic.twitter.com/oqJeZ1S39C
August 13, 2025 Mike Sington (@MikeSington)
The gathering served as both a tactical briefing and a rallying call. Obama, who has mostly remained silent since Trump took office again, has stated that he is prepared to take on the issue of redistricting.
He will be the star of a lavish gala on Martha’s Vineyard later this month for his former attorney general, Eric Holder, whose National Democratic Redistricting Committee is funding campaigns and court cases to halt Republican map-making in red states like Texas and Ohio.
Holder joined Obama on the conference and gave legislators an update on the work his committee was doing to combat GOP gerrymandering in other states. He and Obama commended the Texas Democrats for their conduct, with Obama expressing gratitude for their courage, according to ABC News.
Today, FBI-identified pedophile symbols could be seen in the background of Barack Obama’s Zoom call.
He joined Texas House Democrats in their fight against what they described as an attack on democracy during the call.qYVPyCqFZu pic.twitter.com/
August 15, 2025: Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra)
He gave them credit for motivating blue states like California to react and look into measures to counteract Republican redistricting in the middle of the decade. Obama told the caucus, “You’ve seen California responding and other states looking at what they can do because of your actions and your courage.”
The members were particularly thrilled to have Obama on their side, according to Texas Representative Gene Wu, who chairs the state’s House Democratic Caucus. “The former president’s involvement demonstrated that Democrats across the country understood what was at stake in Texas,” he told ABC News.
According to Wu, President Obama’s backing demonstrates that the nation is paying attention and that Texas House Democrats will not be intimidated. The caucus referred to having Obama’s support as an honor on social media.
Obama praised the senators’ willingness to risk everything and told them he was very proud of their stance as he concluded the meeting. However, the battle is far from ended. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has vowed to detain, penalize, and possibly try to remove the Democratic lawmakers.
