(CNN) The Texas Republican Party passed a resolution at its state convention over the weekend dismissing President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election and further aligning the state party establishment with former President Donald Trump for making false election claims.
“We reject the authenticated results of the 2020 presidential election and believe that incumbent President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was improperly elected by the people of the United States,” read the resolution, which was passed by ballot in Houston on Saturday . “We urge all Republicans to work to ensure the integrity of the election and to show up to vote in November 2022, bring your friends and family, volunteer for your local Republicans, and smash any possible fraud.”
Before the final resolution was adopted, Brian Bodine, a platform committee member who says he wrote the resolution, proposed an amendment regarding the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. It claimed that the “rights of the accused had been violated” and dismissed the “narrative” that the events at the US Capitol constituted a riot. The suggestion drew applause and “Let’s go Brandon” chants. Matt Rinaldi, chairman of the committee, ruled that the change was wrong and would not be considered.
The platform also included a section calling homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice” and rejecting “all efforts to affirm transgender identity.”
The state party’s platform isn’t finalized yet, James Wesolek, a spokesman for the Texas GOP, told CNN, but votes are being counted on each individual plank.
During the convention, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a top GOP negotiator for bipartisan gun talks, received boos from his home state crowd after he said he “fought and kept President Biden’s gun robbery wish list off the table.”
“Democrats pushed for a ban on assault weapons, I said no. They tried to get a new three week mandatory waiting period for all gun purchases, I said no. Universal background checks, magazine bans, license requirements, the list goes on and on and so on. And I said no, no, 1,000 times no,” Cornyn said.
“So you might ask, ‘What’s on the table?’ More mental health resources, more support for our schools, and making sure violent criminals and the mentally ill can’t buy a gun,” Cornyn said as the boos continued. “First and foremost, this means enforcing applicable law. That’s what I’ve heard from many of you here today and this week, and that’s what we’re working on – nothing more, nothing less.”
The party also almost unanimously adopted a resolution by ballot Saturday rejecting the bipartisan arms deal and rejecting Cornyn and other GOP negotiators including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Mitt Romney from Utah, rebuked. Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania, Thom Tillis from North Carolina, Rob Portman from Ohio and Roy Blunt from Missouri.
CNN’s Michael Warren, Morgan Rimmer, and Ali Zaslav contributed to this report.
