Inside the Hive

“Texans Are Being Held Hostage”: Julián Castro on “WTF Is Happening” in the Lone Star State

The former Democratic presidential candidate wishes Biden would shape up at the border—and sees a potential big future for Beto O’Rourke.
Julin Castro on “WTF Is Happening” in the Lone Star State
By Rick Kern/Getty Images.

This week, Julián Castro, onetime Democratic presidential candidate and secretary of housing and urban development under Barack Obama, joins Inside the Hive to discuss the hard-right push on guns, abortion, and voting in Texas, which has become a blueprint for recalcitrant Trumpist states, and what Democrats are going to do about it. Castro is worried about what he calls Biden’s relatively weak leadership—especially his handling of the border crisis. “My hope is that the Biden administration is going to reverse course on this very soon,” he says. He also sketches out a scenario in which his former competitor Beto O’Rourke runs for governor of Texas in 2022 and helps Democrats retake power after years of dashed hopes: “I believe that he has a shot to beat Greg Abbott.” 

More Great Stories From Vanity Fair       

— An Exeter Teacher Was Punished for Sexual Misconduct. The Student Says It Never Happened
— Surprise: Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Trump Jr. Are Still Mooching Off U.S. Taxpayers
— Florida Governor Celebrates Ban on School Mask Mandates as More Kids Die From COVID
— Billionaire Leon Black Allegedly Raped a Woman in Epstein’s New York Mansion
— Trump Is Reportedly “Laying the Groundwork” for a 2024 Run
— A Photographer Reckons With Her Family’s Trump Adoration
— Biden’s COVID Vaccination Strategy Triggers Full-Scale Republican Meltdown
— The Right’s War on COVID Vaccine Mandates Is About to Get Scary
— From the Archive: Martin Shkreli’s Poison Pill
— Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.