Former President Barack Obama on Thursday joined a virtual meeting with Texas House Democrats who left the state to deny Republicans the ability to pass newly drawn GOP-favorable congressional maps, cheering on their efforts and stressing their work comes at a critical time in the fight against partisan gerrymandering.

Former President Barack Obama waded into the debate over redistricting in a zoom call with Texas House Democrats on Thursday, warning of a “systematic assault on democracy” spurred by Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps in Texas.

Barack Obama is praising the Democratic state lawmakers in Texas who broke quorum and fled their state last week in protest of their Republican colleagues’ aggressive redistricting effort that’s designed to award the GOP five additional seats in the U.