Texas Democrat whose dinner tweet was seized by GOP hits back by photographing his breakfast

Gene Wu mocks Fox News for reporting on what he had for dinner with humorous response

‘Landed safely in DC. Officially out of arrest jurisdiction of Gov. Abbott’ tweeted Texas State Representative Gene Wu (Twitter/ Gene Wu)

A Texas Democrat who was mocked by Fox News for posting a picture of his first meal as a “fugitive” has hit back at the network by trolling them with images of his food.

Gene Wu, who is among a group of almost 60 Democratic lawmakers to flee Texas in order to block Republicans’ attempt to introduce restrictive voting legislation, had shared an image of his dinner after he left the state for Washington DC.

“My first meal as a fugitive. Delicious,” tweeted Wu with a picture of a Caesar salad.

He sent the message shortly after leaving the state with at least 56 of his peers.

But Fox News and other conservative pundits immediately seized upon Mr Wu's picture, mocking him over the post.

However, Mr Wu didn't appear to take the jibes to heart – instead trolling Fox News with images of different food he was eating throughout the day – one of which he turned into a smiley face.

The Democrats took a charter flight to DC on Monday in an attempt to prevent the passing of a bill that they argued would disproportionately affect the voting rights of people of colour and those with disabilities.

Included in the bill are measures such as a ban on drive-through voting, and new ID requirements for absentee ballots.

The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, tweeted about the bill he is hoping to pass: “Biden has a pattern of spreading misinformation & he’s at it again today. The #txlege is passing a law that EXPANDS early voting hours & prevents mail-in ballot fraud. Texas is making it EASIER to vote & harder to cheat.”

The measure passed in the Senate on Tuesday, but if the House fails to get quorum by the end of the special session on 6 August, the bill will die.

Enraged Republicans have called the stunt by Democrats a “taxpayer-funded vacation”. The lawmakers who left Texas have been threatened with arrest on their return by Governor Abbott.

“If these people want to be hanging out wherever they're hanging out on this taxpayer-paid junket, they're going to have to be prepared to do it for well over a year. As soon as they come back in the state of Texas, they will be arrested, they will be cabined inside the Texas Capitol until they get their job done,” Mr Abbott told KVUE.