Texas Republicans declare Biden “not legitimately elected” by Americans

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Texas Republicans formally declared that President Joe Biden’s election victory is illegitimate during the party’s statewide convention.
• The GOP also calls homosexuality an “abnormal lifestyle choice” at the convention.
• Republican delegates also voted on a measure to end abortion.

Republicans in Texas voted on multiple resolutions and platform changes during the party’s biennial state convention this weekend. The Texas GOP declared that the 2020 presidential election violated the Constitution and President Joe Biden “was not legitimately elected.”

The Houston event showed how many supported former president Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud.

The GOP’s Permanent 2022 Platform & Resolutions Committee advanced a resolution declaring the 2020 election had violated the Constitution.

“We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States,” the resolution says.

The Texas GOP’s convention also demanded an end to abortion. They voted on a measure calling for “equal protection for the Preborn.”

“We urge lawmakers to enact legislation to abolish abortion by immediately securing the right to life and equal proaction of the laws to all preborn children from the moment of fertilization, because abortion violates the US Constitution by denying such persons the equal protection of the law,” it states.

Abortion in Texas is banned after around six weeks of pregnancy. Last year, the state’s Legislature passed a restrictive law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected.

However, a trigger law making abortion illegal would take effect in Texas if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. The decision that could reverse the 1973 landmark decision is expected later this month.

The new platform would also call for students in Texas “to learn about the Humanity of the Preborn Child,” including teaching that life begins at fertilization and making them see live ultrasounds.

The new GOP platform also described homosexuality as an “abnormal lifestyle choice” and that Republicans “oppose all efforts to validate transgender identity.”

According to the Texas Tribune, votes from convention delegates were collected to add several items to the official Texas GOP.

The delegates were given two sets of ballots—one asking them to select eight of 15 legislative priorities and another voting on more than 270 platform planks.

GOP spokesperson James Wesolek told the Tribune that the votes will be tallied and certified in Austin and that it is rare for a plank to be rejected.

Source: Reuters