Some people will go to any length to defend a defenseless position, and that was obvious when former New York Times columnist Charles Blow took down conservative podcaster Isabel Brown over her explanation for Texas’ new gerrymandered voting districts and her denial of “the existence of racism” in the unprecedented redistricting move.
The conservative-stacked Supreme Court just ruled the gerrymandered maps in Texas can stand, clearing the way for President Donald Trump to rig the midterms next year, according to Democratic lawmakers and MAGA critics, and potentially gain five new Republican seats.
Brown, on CNN’s “NewsNight with Abby Phillip” Thursday, Dec. 4, tried to use California’s redistricting to justify Texas’ rigged voting maps, but Blow wasn’t having any of it.
And, by the way, California’s redistricting effort followed Texas’ gerrymandering with California Gov. Gavin Newsom saying at the time that the state would make the same move to try and nullify the impact of Texas’ actions, but in California, voters had to agree to redraw the maps, and they did.
“When people deny the existence of racism, it says a lot about them,” Blow pointedly said to Brown.
“It’s not denying the existence of racism. This is a Republican state trying to create more Republican seats in Congress to represent their state’s majority. I mean, this is reality,” Brown insisted.
“How did they do it. How did they do it,” Blow asked repeatedly.
“How did they do it? By disenfranchising black and brown people,” he said, and that’s when he made the ultimate point.
“But you don’t want to say that, because it says a lot about you!”
The redrawn districts in the Lone Star State adversely impact the state’s large minority population and dilute their voting power. Republicans now control 30 of the state’s 38 Congressional districts, up from 25, according to The Texas Tribune, and could potentially gain five new seats in Congress next year.
The exchange between Blow and Brown, especially Brown’s duplicity, sent the internet into a frenzy.
“Lmfaooooo Blow sat in that one spot, only moved his head, and still fried the stupid out of her with that last line lmao,” X user ITFraz proclaimed.
Blow took it a step further in an Instagram post following the CNN appearance and Brown’s comments.
“What you are NOT going to do is sit on a panel with me and use the racist, Jim Crow, ‘states’ rights’ argument to justify disenfranchising Black voters,” Blow wrote. “At that point, all bets are off. I have taken my gloves off. You have just revealed yourself, and I’m going to make plain what it says about you. Smirk on that…”
Instagram users agreed, “Still using ‘states rights’ as an excuse for racism,” one remarked.
“Get her, I love the way u checked her every time last night. These Trump supporters are crazy,” another commented.
“The smirk on her face answered the question, until things affect them, it’s not a problem,” this poster replied.
When Trump and his cronies saw his poll numbers beginning to tank last summer, and with the House’s razor-thin Republican majority, they knew they could very well lose Congress during next year’s midterms.
That’s when the president first put out a call for GOP-led states to find him more seats in Congress through an unusual mid-decade redistricting plan. He started with Texas, demanding officials find him five more seats, and they quickly did.
Democrats quickly filed suit, and a three-judge panel blocked the maps. Texas appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled the maps are legal.
Three liberal justices dissented, writing “that the decision disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race,” according to CNN.
Texas Republicans, of course, were delighted with the decision.
“Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state. This map reflects the political climate of our state and is a massive win for Texas and every conservative who is tired of watching the left try to upend the political system with bogus lawsuits,” state Attorney General Ken Paxton said, CNN reported.
But Texas state lawmaker Rep. Gene Wu called it a horrible decision
“The Supreme Court failed Texas voters today, and they failed American democracy,” Wu countered. “This is what the end of the Voting Rights Act looks like: courts that won’t protect minority communities even when the evidence is staring them in the face.”
