The Democratic congressman running against Rep. Mayra Flores (D-TX) accused her of being unable to think independently as the midterm elections near.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) made the controversial comment while speaking at a get-out-the-vote event in Harlingen, Texas, on Wednesday, after encouraging Texans to help with the campaign. The Texas Democrat referenced Flores’s votes against the bipartisan gun deal after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, to argue that she was unable to push back against her own party before claiming that she was unable to “think,” “speak,” or “act” for herself.
“We can’t do this alone,” Gonzalez said, according to Fox News. “We need everyone’s help. We need everyone’s friends, everyone’s family, and everyone’s friends’ and families’ friends and family. That’s the way we’re gonna push back on these outside resources coming here picking a candidate, a hand-picked candidate that can’t think for herself, can’t speak for herself, can’t act for herself, can’t vote for herself.”
“After we lost 19 children and two teachers in a massacre in Uvalde, Texas, her first vote in the United States Congress was a no vote on the Keep Communities Safer Act,” he continued.
VICENTE GONZALEZ CLAIMS MAYRA FLORES TOO ‘EXTREME’ FOR SOUTH TEXAS TOSS-UP DISTRICT
The race between Gonzalez, who was first elected in 2016, and Flores, who assumed office this year after a special election, has become one of the most contentious races this midterm cycle. Both are battling to represent the 34th Congressional District, which is located on the Gulf Coast of Texas. The Cook Political Report recently shifted the race to a toss-up.
Gonzalez is running as a centrist Democrat, hoping to capture the votes of more moderate conservatives while bashing Flores for being too extreme.
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In a recent interview with the Washington Examiner, Gonzalez described Flores’s political views as “extreme right-wing, election-denying, thinks that January 6 was a hoax, believes QAnon conspiracy theories.”
Flores’s campaign manager Taylor Zanazzi pushed back on that characterization and said, “If those lies are the best he has, buena suerte!” — Spanish for “good luck!”
