President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised California’s redistricting efforts, arguing that the state’s move is necessary to combat “partisan” gerrymandering in Texas .

Texas launched an effort earlier this year backed by President Donald Trump to redraw district lines to boost the number of seats Republicans hold in the House by five. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) swiftly led Democratic-led states in announcing retaliatory efforts designed to similarly boost the party’s power in Congress, leading national leaders such as Obama to endorse the effort.

“Over the long term, we shouldn’t have political gerrymandering in America, just a fair fight between Republicans and Democrats based on who’s got better ideas,” Obama said this week.

“But since Texas is taking direction from a

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