One Year Later, Texas Drawing Wrong Lessons From Insurrection, Big Lie
Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy posted this statement on the one-year anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol: “The attack on the U.S. Capitol was an attempted coup, pure and simple. The more we learn from ongoing investigations, the scarier it gets: The armed insurrectionists seeking to stop certification of the presidential election joined an effort by a sitting President to spread the Big Lie, override the will of the American people, and commandeer another term in office.” “The coup continues, in the form of partisan laws in Texas and other states that build paths toward overturning key elections because a legislative majority doesn’t like the result. Ongoing ballot audits, partisan bad-mouthing of Texas elections, and open discussion among radical groups of violence as a path to power threaten all of us. We are appalled at the silence, amounting to complicity, in too many political quarters. The working families of the Texas AFL-CIO will shout it from the rooftops: Fanning the flames of violent insurrection is un-Texan and un-American, as well as criminal. We will fight attacks on our democracy at every turn.” “The response to the attack on democracy in Texas has been a product of weakness, fear and, ultimately, desperation as legitimate political change looms. Our Attorney General loves to preach about ‘the rule of law,’ but it bears noting on this day that he was one of the speakers at the infamous rally that incited the attack on the Capitol and in the name of Texas, he actually tried without evidence to overturn elections in other states. Our Governor, prompted by Donald Trump, called debilitating special legislative sessions that ratcheted up a regime of voter purges and ballot audits. Too many lawmakers sided with Trump or stood silent and, in doing so, became accomplices.” “There was a time when Texans were giants in the advancement of civil rights and voting rights, when a President from Texas sacrificed partisan advantage to do right by all Americans. In 2022, before it is too late, Texas must again become a beacon in the fight for democracy.” “It is high time for Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and for Texans to work in good faith to strengthen elections, rather than undermine them.” The Texas AFL-CIO is the state labor federation consisting of 240,000 affiliated union members who advocate for working families in Texas.