Well, this could be another public relations problem for the Texas Democrats who fled Texas to go to Washington, D.C. during the special session. Of course the Democrats who left will accomplish their goal of running out the clock on the special session and I’m sure they will celebrate their short victory and post heroic selfies on social media for everyone to see.
But a couple of those Democrats might be missing. On Tuesday, rumors started appearing on Twitter that two of the Texas Democrats were no longer in Washington, D.C. and had instead run off to Portugal for a nice European vacation, while they are supposed to be in Austin working.
The two Democrats, Julie Johnson and Jessica Gonzales were reported by Quorum Report to be the Democrats that had left Washington to go to Portugal. Later in the evening, Jonathan Tilove confirmed that both Democrats had left with loved ones to go on a planned trip to Portugal. According to Tilove, Julie Johnson was with her wife and Jessica Gonzales was with her fiancé. They claimed they had planned the trip long ago and had none-refundable tickets. Though others pointed out that during the pandemic all airlines are changing tickets.
I’m not buying that the Democrats who left for Europe couldn’t have changed their tickets. And even if they couldn’t, that means they probably flew back to Texas before heading out of town. Why weren’t they arrested and brought to Austin?
Just another example that the Democrats are putting on a show instead of doing their jobs. Hopefully, they will do their job once Governor Abbott calls another special session.