AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is calling on House Speaker Dade Phelan to resign.
Over the weekend, The Texas Tribune reported that Jonathan Stickland, the head of Defend Texas Liberty, a conservative political action committee (PAC), met with prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
On Monday morning, Phelan released a statement, calling on any elected official who has accepted money from that PAC to redirect those contributions to charity.
In the statement, Phelan said the Republican Party is "no place for Hitler apologist." He also said, "Recently, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick took $3 million from this organization. I expect him to lead the way in redirecting these funds."
Two hours later, Patrick released his own statement that criticized Fuentes but didn't mention Defend Texas Liberty by name.
Patrick called Phelan's statement a "political stunt" and went on to say, "There is no place in Texas political discourse for any elected official to use the atrocities in Israel for their own political gain."
This is just the latest rift between Phelan, who leads the Texas House, and Patrick, the president of the Texas Senate. In recent months, they have disagreed on the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton, how to achieve property tax relief for Texans and other political issues.
The latest back-and-forth also came just hours before lawmakers were expected back in Austin for the start of a third special session.