Texas Republican Chair and former U.S. Florida Congressman Allen West on Thursday backed a state lawmaker’s push to let Texans decide whether to split from the Union.
“I have always said I would rather have Texas lead than secede, but the people here in Texas have a right to be able to voice their opinions on a critical issue that affects them right now,” West told right-wing media outlet Newsmax.
“Especially in light of all of the onerous, intrusive executive orders that are coming down from Vice President Joe Biden,” he added, with an incorrect reference to the President.
The Republican leader argued that not putting secession to a vote would be a deprivation of constitutional rights.
“I don’t understand why anyone would feel that they need to prevent the people from having a voice in something that is part of the Texas Constitution,” Allen said. “And so if you don’t want to see it done, you just vote no. But you cannot prevent the people from having a voice.”
Texas Rep. Kyle Biedermann (R), who falsely claims the 2020 election was stolen from ex-President Donald Trump, formally introduced long-shot legislation to hold a referendum in November on making the Lone Star State a country several days after Biden was sworn into office in January.
“Our federal government continuously fails our working families, seniors, taxpayers, veterans and small business owners,” Biedermann said in a statement at the time. “For decades, the promises of America and our individual liberties have been eroding. It is now time that the people of Texas are allowed the right to decide their own future.”
The Texit campaign has caught the eye of at least one other state GOP: Wyoming Republican Chair Frank Eathorne signaled interest in following Texas’ footsteps last month.
“Many of these Western states have the ability to be self-reliant, and we’re keeping eyes on Texas too, and their consideration of possible secession,” he told top Trump ally Steve Bannon. “They have a different state constitution than we do as far as wording, but it’s something we’re all paying attention to.”
(Nearly half of Wyoming’s land is owned by the federal government.)
