Trump knows he’s cooked
The Republicans’ efforts to redistrict red states is a clear admission that they can’t win honest elections based on their policies. Here’s a rundown of the shenanigans and the outright, spoken-out-loud swindle they’re pulling on America.
Donald Trump is afraid…very afraid…that the Democrats will take over the House in 2026. He has good reason to be. Republicans hold a thin margin right now. . Right now, the Republicans have a mere five seat lead. In 2018, Democrats took control of the House by gaining 41 seats. At that, it was estimated that there were sixteen other seats that gerrymandering cost the Democrats.
He knows that Republicans could lose even more seats this time. He also knows that a House controlled by the Democrats will release the Epstein files in a New York minute. Finally, he knows that a Democratic House will start a myriad of investigations into his shady self-serving money grabs, his weaponization of the Department of Justice, and the lawless thuggery of ICE.
A rational President and his or her party might address this problem by getting together to discuss which of their popular policies they should promote and which of their unpopular policies they should toss overboard. Then they’d figure out how to communicate the results of this deliberation to the electorate in a way that would attract their votes.
But that rosy scenario assumes that the President and his or her party is committed to, or at least has a passing interest in a Constitutional democracy. It’s clear that this President and his party haven’t the remotest interest in sustaining such an institution, far less a commitment to doing so.
Cheating is the only way he knows
So, what’s a cabal of neo-fascists who see democracy as a hindrance to its designs to do? Rig elections more aggressively than it already has, that’s what. “I’ll just call my MAGA buddies in Texas and have them take five districts away from the Democrats”, he thinks.
Here’s the thing, though…Texas isn’t due to redistrict until 2030. Legislators who were genuinely committed to “law and order” would have immediately hung up on Trump. But we know that Texas Republicans have no interest in governing under any laws but their own. So, of course, when Trump yelled, “Jump!”, they all asked “How high, your Highness?”…on the way up.
It’s important to understand just what went on here. Trump didn’t call Texas and say, “You’re growing so fast that a mid-decade redistricting might be in order.” He certainly didn’t call to say that redistricting might be warranted so as to assure that all Texans were adequately represented given the rapidly changing demographics in the state. Rather, he simply told Texas, “I need you to redistrict five seats from Democrat to Republican so that Republicans keep control of the House.” That’s it. It was as blatant an example of dirty politics for the sake of dirty politics as one is able to find since Watergate.
Even so, Texas legislators could well have replied, “Whoa, dude. You’re way out of your lane. We’ve never been inclined to take orders from Washington except as a matter of law and we don’t like to do it then. We’re sure not going to take orders just because you or any president is afraid of being subpoenaed!” Even if they were inclined to be less snarky, they might well have replied, “Gosh, Mr. President. Thanks for the idea. But requesting that we redistrict when it’s not required is a pretty big ask and, we’re told, gives a bad impression, so we’re going to respectfully decline.” But they didn’t. They genuflected, kissed the ring, and replied, “Thy will be done, Your Highness.”
Then Trump had JD Vance scramble to other MAGA run states with the same message. North Carolina Republicans passed a new map targeting the 1st District, represented by Black Democrat Don Davis, diluting its Black voting-age population from 40% to 32%.
Missouri Republicans passed a map that targeted the Kansas City-area district of Black Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. Like Texas, those states are redistricting, by their own admission, in response to Trump’s commands.
Efforts are moving forward in Florida, Ohio, Utah, Nebraska, and Louisiana to do Trump’s bidding in a similar fashion.
They don’t even try to cover it any longer
There’s no other way to describe all this than as Common Cause does: “[It is] part of a broader march toward authoritarianism, dismantling people-powered democracy, and stripping away the people’s ability to have a political voice and say in how they are governed.” According to NC Senate Leader Phil Berger, the goal is “to protect President Trump’s agenda, which means safeguarding Republican control of Congress.” Republicans couldn’t be any clearer in saying that they know they can’t win without rigging the system.
