Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said she was reminded of the history of "slave patrols" after conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents the ability to target people based on their ethnicity.
During a Sunday interview on MSNBC, Crockett criticized President Donald Trump's crime-fighting strategy.
"So listen, if we want to figure out how we are going to be safer, we probably need people that have actual intelligence and actually will pay attention to data and facts," she explained. "But what they're doing right now, it almost feels like, you know, I've seen the memes about the purge and all these things."
"But as somebody who understands history, when I see ICE, I see slave patrols," she continued. "But if you know the history of policing in this country, then you understand that they were born out of slave patrols."
"And now with the Supreme Court saying this, it's almost like you can just go grab them up. And that is a problem. We all should have a problem with that."
Crockett pointed out that an effort to remove Black history from schools added to the problem.
"When you don't want to teach American history that includes Black history, then you lose out on the benefit of understanding that we have been down this road before," she remarked. "And it was not good. And we fixed it once. And it is a shame that we are relitigating this. And we are going to have to fix it again."
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) responded after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) suggested that the Texas Democrat did not understand the "black American struggle" because she went to college.
In an interview with right-wing podcaster Megyn Kelly this week, Greene lashed out at Crockett.
"So she claims to be, you know, from her people," Greene remarked. "She puts on this image that she understands the black American struggle. But let's face it, the girl went to private school. She went on to, you know, I don't know what college and law school."
"She's a complete fake. She's as fake as her eyelashes. She's as fake as her hair. She's as fake as her fingernails. And she is such a massive fraud," the Republican lawmaker added.
"It is funny that MAGA cultist want to challenge my blackness because of my education," Crockett wrote. "Y'all are a joke. Walk a day in my shoes where your white supremacist friends send me hateful emails, death threats, DMs, & posts, and then you can tell me if I'm truly living the black experience in this country, UNTIL then mind your business."
"ALSO 'being black' has nothing to do with education… (BUT for the record, if it did, just know that the MOST educated demographic in THIS country is BLACK WOMEN 🎤 so stop pretending like we are inferior in ANY WAY!)" she insisted.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) suggested that Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) held racist beliefs because she opposed gerrymandering that could wipe out congressional districts that were historically held by minorities in the state.
During a Sunday interview on Fox News, host Shannon Bream told Abbott that Crockett had recently connected Texas redistricting to race.
"Right now, African-Americans are only going to have one-fifth of the voting power that they should have in the state of Texas under this map," Crockett said. "And we know that our Latino brothers and sisters will only have one-third of the voting power. And frankly, Asians, which tend to be one of the fastest growing demographics in the state of Texas, have literally no power."
Abbott brushed aside the criticism.
"Well, first of all, it would not be a day the ends of the letter 'y' if Jasmine Crockett didn't say something racist," the governor quipped. "The problem that Democrats have in the state of Texas is Hispanics, Black voters, and other voters. They have learned now that the ideas that Democrats stand for are contrary to the ideas that the Hispanic community and Black community stand for."
"And so what we're finding is that these Hispanics now are voting for Republicans," he continued. "If the Democrats would say that they should have been entitled to elect a certain member of a particular race, but instead let the voters of that district decide, regardless of their race."
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) got the crowd going at a progressive event over the weekend when she launched into President Donald Trump with a profanity-laced attack, according to The Daily Beast.
Speaking at a MoveOn event in Arizona, the Texas congresswoman didn't mince words when it came to her feelings about Trump, who has called her a "low-IQ person."
"Listen, Donald Trump is a piece of s---, OK?” Crockett exclaimed as the crowd erupted. “We know that. Yes, yes! He is, he is! But in a functioning democracy, he still would not be able to get away with this.”
Crockett then called out Senate Republicans and even the U.S. Supreme Court for allowing Trump to operate with impunity.
“He’s been able to get away with this because the House Republicans are complicit,” she said. “He’s been able to get away with this because Senate Republicans are complicit. But most importantly, the courts—especially the Supreme Court—are complicit! “They are the highest court in the land and they have no ethics guardrails. Now you go down to the lower courts, and they do. How much sense does that make?”
Crockett then accused the Supreme Court justices of taking bribes.
“Well, we know that they’re taking money. We have the paper trail. And they refuse to put guardrails on themselves. So it’s time for us to do it for them.”
Crockett also spoke about the standoff over redistricting in her own state orchestrated by Trump, calling it “racist and anti-democratic,” and "arguing that it dilutes minority voting power and rigs the system in Republicans’ favor ahead of 2026," according to the report.
Republicans' new plan is going to "backfire in a really unprecedented way," Democratic lawmaker Jasmine Crockett said.
The GOP in Texas is working to gerrymander the state even further in favor of the conservative party, but it's probably not going to work, according to Crockett on Saturday.
Crockett appeared on MSNBC over the weekend, where she was asked about gerrymandering. She said that the last time Texas Republicans did this, "they diluted the voices of people of color, and that's basically what they're going to do."
"They're going to do it again. Texas is a majority minority state, and they don't feel comfortable having to go and present their very much racist policies, the policies that people like the Proud Boys are excited about, the people like the Oath Keepers, people like, you know, we saw on January 6th, those guys," she said. "So that's what they're going to do. They are going to minimize people of color's voices. And they truly believe that by pushing their white supremacy agenda, they will be able to then secure more Republican seats."
She then issued them a warning:
"I've got news for them. I believe in the people of Texas, and I believe that this may backfire in a really unprecedented way. In fact, I will tell you confidently that there are absolutely Republicans that currently are serving that are concerned as well, and they should be concerned that this may backfire on them as they try to create these seats, because there will be new vulnerabilities," she said. "And I promise you, I am going to do everything that I can to make sure that Texans know what is at stake and understand that they are trying to basically put their voices on mute, and it is time to raise the volume on their voices. And so we will work and outwork this gerrymander to make sure that Texas actually shows up and shows out. And Donald trump is left being the crybaby that he is."
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) declined to rule out a run for the Senate in Texas after a poll reportedly showed her leading among Democrats.
In a videoposted to Instagram this week, Crockett said she had not decided on a run for the U.S. Senate.
"There have been a lot of questions about what's gonna happen in the Senate race in Texas," the lawmaker explained. "There have been two different polls that have come out that have somehow thrown my name into them. And one of them was released today that the Republicans put into the field, the Republican Senate Committee, allegedly."
"And allegedly it has me as topping the field for the Senate," she continued. "Listen, I have been so busy in the House. Because that's where I am, that's been my focus. You know, depending on how many people reach out will determine if there's something to actually consider."
"But as of now, I am proudly serving Texas's 30th Congressional district."
According to the Republican poll, Crockett leads in a hypothetical primary with 35% of likely Democratic voters. Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) had the support of 20% of Texas Democrats, according to the survey.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), one of the most vocal Democrats in Congress who's poised to take a future leadership role, is once again finding herself in the crosshairs of White House officials.
On Wednesday, a Trump administration official told Fox News's Chad Pergram, "Jasmine Crockett has the brain capacity of a jellyfish and is the last person on Earth to critique anyone’s mental acuity, let alone intelligence."
Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, continued, telling Pergram, "The Democrats’ rising star has done more to cement the party’s demise than the President she breathlessly supported, the decrepit and feeble Joe Biden. Jasmine continues to prove she’d be better suited as a reality TV star on VH1 than an elected official on Capitol Hill."
Fields may have been referring to Crockett's recent swipe at Melania Trump, claiming the First Lady was given special treatment when she came to the United States on an EB1 visa, which is commonly referred to as an "Einstein visa."
Crockett told a House hearing on "restoring integrity in the visa process" that the Einstein visa is given to people with "some sort of significant achievement, like being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer; being an Olympic medalist; or having other sustained extraordinary abilities and success in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Last time I checked, the first lady had none of those accolades under her belt."
On the same day, Trump hit out at Crockett's intelligence, posting to Truth Social, "I have an idea for the Democrats to bring them back into 'play'" that involved nominating "Low IQ Candidate, Jasmine Crockett, for President."
During a House hearing on "restoring integrity in the visa process" this week, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) called out first lady Melania Trump's own visa history to illustrate the point that the Trump administration doesn't fully grasp the meaning of the word integrity.
"Integrity isn't snatching lawful visa holders off the streets and throwing them into unmarked vans," Crockett began. "Integrity is not revoking visas based on social media posts that hurt somebody's little feelings, because kids decided they wanted to go after Trump or this administration -- we have a thing called free speech in this country."
Crockett then lowered the boom.
"And, since we're talking about integrity, I'm confused as to why my Republican colleagues aren't talking about the lack of integrity when it comes to the president's family's visas."
Crockett reminded the hearing participants that Melania Trump worked as a model, "and when I say, 'model,' I'm not talking about Tyra Banks, Cindy Crawford, or Naomi Campbell-level," she quipped.
Crockett continued that the now-first lady eventually applied for and was given an EB1 visa, which is commonly referred to as an "Einstein visa."
"Now, y'all that don't know, let me tell you how you receive an Einstein visa," Crockett continued. "You're supposed to have some sort of significant achievement, like being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer; being an Olympic medalist; or having other sustained extraordinary abilities and success in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. Last time I checked the first lady had none of those accolades under her belt."
Crockett concluded, "It doesn't take an Einstein to see that the math ain't mathin' here."
WASHINGTON — The Democratic Party is at a crossroads, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett says she’s got the roadmap her beleaguered caucus needs.
The Texas Democrat known for electrifying the internet is only serving her second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, which is why her bid to become ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee Tuesday is turning heads.
“We have a very interesting figure that is currently in the White House, and I think I'm uniquely suited to kind of be the opposition to him,” Crockett told Raw Story, while walking through the Capitol.
“He already envisions me that way, and I'm sure, if there's one person he doesn't want in that seat, I'm sure it's me.”
Crockett is part of a four-candidate race to succeed nine-term Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), who lost his battle with cancer earlier this year.
With younger progressives challenging veteran incumbents in heated primaries from coast to coast, this week’s internal Democratic debate over which direction the House Oversight Committee should go indicates broader tensions dividing the party ahead of the 2026 midterms.
‘I hate that committee’
Crockett knows how to get attention. But getting clicks is different than delivering Democrats out of the proverbial political wilderness voters banished them to in November.
Everyone on Capitol Hill knows Crockett is adept at garnering free media coverage and retweets. That’s no longer enough. In recent weeks, Crockett’s been pitching herself as a team player.
“So my big pitch is getting us to the majority and making sure that we start to build a rapport with the American people,” she said.
“From raising money to giving money away, I think a part of leadership is more than just kind of running the committee, it’s making sure that we can help the caucus get to the majority.”
While Crockett needs to convince her peers to back her move up the power ladder, in meetings with colleagues she’s been highlighting the party’s need to appeal outside the Washington Beltway. The 44-year-old lawyer sees herself as Democrats’ bridge to the future.
“We've got to think about, ‘How is this going to be perceived by the outside?’ Will they then become more engaged? Because we need people to be more engaged in government,” Crockett said.
“We need them to know what it is that we're doing and what it is that we're fighting for.”
Republicans sense Democratic weakness on the Oversight Committee.
“You see how all over the map they are?” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) laughed to Raw Story after a recent high-profile hearing.
“When we were in the minority, our goal was always to try to at least win the hearing. Determine what your narrative and point is, and then see how much you can hammer it home.”
Being confined to the minority means Democrats are mostly locked out of the legislative process. That makes committee work tiresome for most, except those on the headline-grabbing Oversight panel.
"Because of the subject matter that it covers — which is anything — it has the propensity to actually elevate issues into headline issues,” Biggs said. “It has the potential to be a very high-profile committee, consistently.”
Oversight attracts rabble-rousers. On the right, there’s Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO). On the left, four out of seven of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ (D-NY) so-called “Squad” members call Oversight home.
Still, the committee isn’t for everyone.
“I hate that committee,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) told Raw Story. “I was on it as a freshman. You don’t pass bills. You just go there to get on TV.”
Getting on TV used to be little more than a vanity project. These days, if your party isn’t winning American screens, it‘s barely even an afterthought. Far-right Freedom Caucus Republicans on the Oversight Committee know this all too well.
“Part of Oversight is conducting oversight and questioning these officials on why they continue to put their constituents and their citizens last and making sure that Americans get to see it on TV," Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) told Raw Story.
"That's a part of what Oversight is all about, so that the people in this country know what their representatives are doing.”
'Bomb throwing'
Crockett’s got competition. Connolly tapped 12-term Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) to take over as top Democrat on Oversight — which has had many Republicans laughing or cringing as they’ve witnessed him ratchet up his rhetoric in recent weeks.
“He’s very different – the grotesque rhetoric,” Biggs told Raw Story, after Lynch compared ICE agents to the Gestapo at one hearing. “He's trying to show that he can compete on the bomb throwing.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) speaks to reporters. Photo: Reuters
The bomb throwing comes natural to two-term Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA). He’s been turning heads on social media since coming to Washington in 2023, and is making a similar pitch asCrockett: that he’s youthful, very online and understands angst in the next generation.
While the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has formally endorsed Garcia, the Congressional Black Caucus isn’t formally endorsing in this race, in part, because two of its members are facing off in the contest.
Which brings us to the last candidate pitch, which comes from the other side of the seniority spectrum.
After winning a fifth term in 1996, Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) resigned his seat to become president of the NAACP. In 2020, voters sent him back to Washington, maintaining the seniority from his first time in Congress — a card he’s playing to his peers, arguing the party needs the wisdom of old amid today’s digital duress.
The four candidates vying to be the senior Democrat on Oversight are twisting their rank-and-file peers into knots.
“You have four very different candidates, very different backgrounds. You have seniority versus kind of the younger generation," Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA) told Raw Story. “On policy, I don’t think there’s much difference between the four of them. On style, there is.”
The six-term congressman feels the tension between rewarding veterans and passing the baton to the next generation, which is why Crockett’s been on his radar.
“She’s got a talent on how to use social media. Talks about the younger generation, how to engage them,” Bera said. "I think there's something about seniority and experience, but I also think — I'm not the social-media darling — but you have folks that do know how to use those tools to communicate.”
Others concur.
“Clearly, I believe in seniority. It would be against my own personal interest not to be,” 10-term Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) told Raw Story. “Everything equal I would certainly want to take the person with seniority — everything being equal. You know, these are some unusual times.”
Given the recent dustup at the Democratic National Committee over former vice-chair and anti-gun violence activist David Hogg’s decision to back primary challenges to sitting members of Congress, many congressional Democrats have been frustrated watching the party squabble.
“We’re wasting a lot of energy and money trying to help Donald Trump when we start fighting like this. It makes absolutely no sense. It’s not helpful,” Cleaver said.
Cleaver’s a former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), which recently invited all four Oversight candidates to a forum where they privately pitched their peers.
“One thing that I will say that I thought was great about this forum is all about who the best leader for this committee would be,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), the current CPC chair, told Raw Story.
“It wasn’t about whose turn it is, it was all about who the best leader for the committee is and I think that's a good thing for Congress.”
Many senior Democrats are trying to stay out of the fray, for fear they may attract a primary challenger. But with an increasing number of progressives targeting what they see as an out-of-touch seniority system, veteran Democrats are embracing the four-way Oversight contest.
“It’s their prerogative,” Rep. John Larson (D-CT) told Raw Story. “Especially these days, there's a lot of feeling out there on seniority, term limits and all those discussions. You always go through these trends.”
“Do you think the seniority system still matters?” Raw Story pressed.
“Yes, I do. I think experience matters,” Larson said. “It's an education process for people, so I do think that that's important.”
‘New, energetic voices’
With Democratic leaders still trying to figure out how they failed the party’s base in 2024 by allowing President Donald Trump to win a second term, Republicans are giddy.
“Does top slot on Oversight for Dems really matter?” Raw Story asked.
“It does for the messaging for the Democrats,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) — another darling of the far-right Freedom Caucus — told Raw Story. “Democrats, nationally their polling is in the sh—er … so it's just all propaganda.”
Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene , Lauren Boebert and Anna Paulina Luna sit in an Oversight Committee Hearing. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Democrats are looking for a powerful, unifying voice, which is why Crockett’s become a party favorite.
“She's certainly a dynamic voice, and injects some new energy into a Congress that needs it,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) told Raw Story. “We need new, energetic voices.”
Crockett’s promising more than her megaphone. She’s trying to convince her colleagues she’s adept at more than winning news cycles: she wants to win back the White House, starting by reclaiming the House majority in 2026.
“Talking about things such as listening to people, not when we're asking them for votes, but like right now,” Crockett said. “Doing some shadow field hearings in Republican backyards where they don't want to show up. We're listening to the real stories of the people, letting their neighbors hear from them.”
Crockett’s also promising her peers she’s willing to share center stage.
“Doing my best to make sure that we're uplifting the voices of the team,” she told Raw Story.
“This is a very young committee, and so introducing them to the American people so that people don't feel like there's only a couple of Democrats that are part of the opposition, but they start to see more faces and voices.”
Crockett’s Oversight Committee bid is about more than just going viral. A trial lawyer by training, she argues her resume makes her a perfect fit for the Trump-era.
“Investigations is kind of all I did,” Crockett said, with a knowing laugh. “I dealt with criminals a lot so I know how to deal with them, that's for sure.”
But the Democratic resistance is gaining momentum, according to Beschloss, even if it got off to a slow start during the first 100 days of Trump's second term.
Beschloss wrote that he makes an effort "to spotlight the defenders of democracy and the good and decent people who oppose Trump’s gleeful arson and the forces that applaud the flames." It hasn't been "easy" this time, however, Beschloss wrote, as Trump shifts from "nationalist mode" to "imperialist mode" right before our eyes.
"We have every reason to expect that it will get worse with the bottomless, immunized Trump in the Oval Office," Beschloss wrote. "Trump is intoxicated on power and is acting to further enrich himself by securing his own Putin-style, kleptocratic oligarchy. We no longer hear, like we did during the first term, about people in the administration who provide guardrails. We are getting fully unleashed Trump, courtesy of the 77 million Americans who voted for him and all the others who stayed home, ensuring that we learn what 'mess around and find out' really means."
Although Beschloss blamed "far too many elected Democrats"far too many elected Democrats" who have had a "tepid or, worse, non-existent," response to Trump's desire for unlimited power, Beschloss wrote, "I am uplifted to see leaders like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Sen. Cory Booker, Chris Murphy and Bernie Sanders, and Representatives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett grasp the urgency of this dangerous time."
Beschloss continued, "But the road ahead cannot rely on elected officials to stem this authoritarian spiral: I am looking to millions of Americans demonstrating in the streets to say they’ve had enough. That cannot be an occasional thing but an ongoing effort to ensure the survival of our centuries-old democratic experiment."
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) speaks to reporters. Photo: Reuters 
Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene , Lauren Boebert and Anna Paulina Luna sit in an Oversight Committee Hearing. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque