Biden team rebuffs Texas Democrats' pleas for more money
25 October 2020
The Biden campaign is rebuffing persistent pleas from Texas Democrats to spend at least $10 million in the Lone Star state, several people familiar with the talks tell Axios.
Why it matters: If Texas — which has 38 electoral votes and is steadily getting more blue, but hasn't backed a Democrat for president since 1976 — flipped to the Biden column, it would be game over. But the RealClearPolitics polling average stubbornly hovers at +2.6 for Trump — and Team Biden appears more focused on closer targets.
The state of play: Beto O'Rourke and others say Biden's haul — $383 million in September alone — means there's nothing to lose by spending more than the planned $6.2 million in Texas to target Latino and young voters.
- “There are gaps that need to be filled, especially on the border and in San Antonio,” Texas Democratic Party chair Gilberto Hinojosa told Axios.
- "The resources they can send would seal the deal and calcify the work we’ve already been doing in the state," said Rep. Veronica Escobar, adding, "The window of opportunity to make a difference is closing."
Don't forget: Hillary Clinton lost Texas by 800,000+ votes in 2016, compared with Barack Obama's 1.2 million+ deficit. In the 2018 Senate race, O'Rourke lost to Sen. Ted Cruz by around 215,000 votes.
What to watch:Kamala Harris will travel to Texas on Friday.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.