Texas Republicans ended a three-day convention Saturday with votes on a swath of proposed changes to their platform that would pull the party further right.
Why it matters: The revised platform is likely to preview some of the GOP's messaging going into the November midterms and 2024 election. It includes resolutions denying that President Biden legitimately won the 2020 election and a call to abolish abortions.
The big picture: Votes on the state's revised GOP platform are currently being tallied, the Texas Tribune reported.
- If approved, the new party platform would include declaring homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice," repealing the 16th Amendment that created the federal income tax, and mandating that Texas students "learn about the humanity of the preborn child,” in part by forcing students to listen to ultrasounds of gestating fetuses.
- During the convention, Texas Republicans approved a resolution declaring that President Biden "was not legitimately elected," per the Tribune.
- Attendees also voted on a measure urging "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," per Newsweek.
- The platform also calls for the abolishment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, opposes efforts to classify carbon dioxide as a pollutant, and supports prayer "being returned to our schools, courthouses, and other government buildings."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who has been taking part in bipartisan gun control negotiations, was booed by the crowd when he got on stage to address the convention, with audience members shouting "no red flags" and "don’t take our guns," the Dallas Morning News reported.
- Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and members of his staff were physically attacked at the convention, with the assailants saying Crenshaw should be hung and calling him "eyepatch McCain," Politico reported.
The Fort Worth chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans, a national Republican LGBTQ organization, was excluded from the event after they were not allowed to set up a booth at the convention, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
- The group's national chapter issued a statement Thursday calling its exclusion "not just narrow-minded, but politically short-sighted."
