Texas House Democratic leader Gene Wu is under heavy criticism from conservatives after an old interview resurfaced showing him calling for minority communities to unite against what he described as their shared “oppressor,” according to Fox News.
The viral clip came from the Define American podcast hosted by Antonio Vargas on December 31, 2024, in an episode titled “In this Texas District, 1/3 of Residents Are Undocumented.” During their conversation, Wu discussed the political and demographic shifts taking place in Texas and across the country.
Wu argued that one of the main drivers of modern American politics, especially in debates about immigration, is the fear among some “White people” in America of becoming a racial or political minority. He said this anxiety has fueled a new wave of anti-immigrant sentiment rooted in “White nationalism.”
“The scary thing for me is that what is driving this newest round of anti-immigrant sentiment is purely a sense of White nationalism,” Wu said. “That there is a sense of, ‘America really just belongs to White people,’ that this was that a lot of people believe that God gave America to White people to rule, and that any time that immigrants, minorities make progress in this country, that that is seen as a slight against them.”
Wu added that progress made by minority and immigrant communities is often perceived as a threat to that idea.
Both Vargas and Wu acknowledged that White Texans are close to becoming a demographic minority, though Wu noted they still form the majority of voters. When asked about relations between Latino and Asian residents in his majority-Latino district, Wu said that for decades, powerful institutions have worked to keep these groups divided, viewing one another as rivals rather than allies confronting common struggles.
“It’s not just Latinos. It’s not just Asians. It’s not just African Americans. It’s everybody. Right? We, our country and the forces that be, the powers that be, have spent tremendous time, effort and money to make sure that those groups are never united, that they always see each other as enemies, as competitors, without ever realizing that they share one thing in common, that their oppressors all are the same,” he said. “The oppression comes from one place.”
The resurfaced clip sparked intense backlash from Texas Republicans. Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is also running for the U.S. Senate, accused Wu of being a “radical racist who hates millions of Texans because they’re [W]hite.” Former state GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi claimed that Wu’s words amounted to advocating for “[W]hite genocide,” stressing that he is not a marginal figure but the leader of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. Senator Ted Cruz called the Democratic Party “built on bigotry,” while Representative Chip Roy demanded that Wu resign, accusing him of openly expressing racism toward White people and urging the Texas House to strip him of leadership authority.
After the controversy escalated, Wu attempted to clarify his remarks, asserting that his “shared oppressor” comment was not directed at White people but at Republicans. According to Houston Chronicle columnist Evan Mintz, the viral portion of the interview did not specifically mention White people, though earlier in the discussion Wu had referenced White Americans’ unease about becoming a minority. When Mintz reached out for clarification, Wu responded that his comments referred to Republicans, whom he accused of systematically undermining minority communities over the past fifty years.
Mintz also noted that several Republicans criticized Wu more for dividing Americans into subgroups than for racism itself—a criticism he acknowledged was warranted.