Sen. Lindsey Graham
Republicans were in full-on meltdown mode this week after they lost a redistricting ballot measure in Virginia that will axe as many as four GOP lawmakers from their congressional delegation.
And the finger-pointing was out in full force, with conservatives blaming the Virginia Republican Party, the Republican National Committee, former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and especially Democrats, who they called power-hungry cheaters while keeping a straight face.
But there was one person Republicans didn’t blame, even though he is squarely at fault for any House losses they suffer as a result of this race to the bottom that he started in the first place: their Dear Leader, Donald Trump.
If Trump had never pushed red states to redraw their congressional maps mid-decade in Texas and elsewhere, then Democrats never would have redrawn the maps in Virginia or California.Indeed, Trump likely thought that Democrats wouldn’t have the ability, nor the stomach, to engage in the kind of partisan gerrymandering that rule-followers usually hate.
But he underestimated Democratic leaders, who showed they had a spine and the guts to stand up and refuse to fight with one hand tied behind their back.
Still, Republicans couldn’t bring themselves to name Trump personally for the miscalculation.
Let’s take a look at some unhinged GOP reactions, shall we?
Republican Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia proposed legislation that would redraw Virginia state lines, giving the Democratic-heavy Northern Virginia suburbs back to the District of Columbia.
“DC Bureaucrats hijacked Virginia… but we will restore it,” McCormick wrote in a post on X. “Arlington and Alexandria were always meant to be a part of DC. That’s why I introduced the Make DC Square Again Act, because it’s a simple concept: DC = [square].”
Of course, changing state lines would require the Virginia Legislature to agree—which it won’t, given that it’s controlled by Democrats.
Also, the Virginia redistricting ballot measure would have passed even without the Democratic strongholds in NoVA, so good try bro. Even more ironic is that McCormick is only in Congress because Georgia Republicans gerrymandered their House maps to make his seat easier for him to win. Funny that he wasn’t anti-gerrymandering then.
GOP Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina reacted by calling on his state to gerrymander in response to Virginia’s gerrymander.
“After the Virginia Democrats’ efforts to redistrict in order to increase Democrat seats in the House of Representatives, South Carolina should consider fighting fire with fire,” Graham wrote in a post on X, even though this whole ordeal was started by Trump and not Democrats. “I would encourage South Carolina’s next Republican governor and the Republican legislature to seriously look at what our state’s response should be to Democrats in Virginia. Republicans in South Carolina should consider being bold and fighting back.”
Note: The filing deadline for candidates in South Carolina already passed and the primaries are in a little over seven weeks, so even if they do redraw their maps, that wouldn’t take effect this year.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson slammed Democrats for the Virginia redraw, and said that the narrow margin the ballot measure passed by is proof that the redraw is bad.
“Virginia Democrats can’t redraw reality. This close margin reinforces that Virginia is a purple state that shouldn’t be represented by a severe partisan gerrymander,” Hudson said in a statement.
You’ll be shocked to know he didn’t raise any objections when Republicans in his state redrew their maps to give the GOP as many as 11 of the state’s 14 House seats—despite the fact that Trump only won the Tar Heel State by four points.
Other GOP lawmakers used ridiculous hyperbole and lies to slam the maps, yet refused to say Trump needed to take any accountability for the mess he created.
“The Marxists want to destroy this country,” Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told Fox Business. “That’s what [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries literally admitted yesterday. … We need the Virginia Supreme Court to hopefully save us by striking down this ridiculous redistricting map.”
Ultimately, Democrats finally fought back against Trump-fueled GOP power grabs—and Republicans can’t handle it.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos
- Behind No Campaign To Stop Virginia Redistricting Are Usual MAGA Suspects ›
- Ohio's Supreme Court Blows Up GOP Gerrymandering Tricks ›
- Amid Their Redistricting Wreckage, Trump And Johnson Reject Obvious Solution ›
- Rejecting Trump's Hypocritical Plea, Voters Approve Virginia Redistricting ›
- California's Redrawn Congressional Map Triggers GOP Hypocrisy ›
- How the GOP’s redistricting effort could backfire ›
- GOP strategist explains how Florida’s redistricting plans could backfire - Democracy Docket ›
- "I wish none of this had happened": GOP's buyer's remorse on redistricting ›
- Why the GOP Redistricting Strategy Failed—and What It Means for 2026 | GovFacts ›
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