Rep. Beth Van Duyne Thursday slammed her newest competitor for her House seat, Texas state Rep. Michelle Beckley, telling Newsmax that "this woman wants to do my job when she can't even show up to do hers."
"You make a pledge to your constituents that you're going to be there for them," Van Duyne, R-Texas, said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "This woman has completely abdicated her post."
Beckley unveiled her plans Tuesday from a Washington, D.C., hotel room, where she has been staying since she left Texas along with other Democrats to disable a quorum that was needed at the House to vote on voting reform legislation.
In her video, Beckley compared her commitment to the fight against the voting legislation with Van Duyne's vote from earlier this year objecting to Pennsylvania's results for the 2020 election.
"Beth Van Duyne can walk away from her duty to defend democracy, but not me," Beckley said in the video
Van Duyne pointed out Thursday that Beckley and the other Democrats are the ones who are running from a fight.
"If you know anything about Texans, staying with the fight, that's what you got elected to do," said Van Duyne. "As an elected official, you make an oath. You make a pledge to your constituents that you're going to be there for them."
The Texas Democrats have compared themselves to the Freedom Riders who fought against segregation during the 1960s, and Beckley referred to herself as brave in the video, but Van Duyne said there is no comparison.
"They're being received by open arms by the vice president and others here," and enjoying luxury travel and hotel accommodations, said Van Duyne. "I do know that while they're gone the work that needs to get done in Texas is not getting done because they are not there."
And as a result, people are frustrated, said Van Duyne.
"I have heard from several voters (who say) they just want them to get back to work," she said. "They want them to do their people are frustrated," Van Duyne added. "They want them to do their jobs, and they're not doing that.
In addition, people who have had to fight for their rights have suffered, the lawmaker said, but the Texas contingent is sitting in luxury while taxpayers foot the bill.
"My understanding is they're getting almost $200 a day per diem, and that's a taxpayer expense as they are out here, not doing their job, specifically not doing their job," said Van Duyne.
Meanwhile, some of the Democrats have said they will stay in Washington until the November 2022 election, but Van Duyne said there are things Gov. Greg Abbott can do if the situation gets out of hand like that.
"I can't imagine that they would stay there that long, but who would imagine that they would have left the left the state and said that they were running to D.C. for protection?" said Van Duyne. "Who would have thought that they would compare representing the citizens of Texas to slavery."
If the situation stretches until November, she hopes Abbott takes a stronger stance.
"They have special elections if they're not going to do their job, I can guarantee you," she said. "There's plenty of people lined up that will do it for them."
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is reconsidering mask mandates, even for vaccinated people, but Van Duyne said that "this is all about putting fear in American people to make them more easily controlled."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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