Trump finally SNAPS over Virginia map redraw

Trump is very clearly not taking the. Virginia news well. So, I'm going to. read a post from Trump that sums up. pretty nicely the aftermath of this. redistricting fight culminating in. Virginia voting in favor of a redrawn. map that will likely see 10 Democrats. and one Republican in their. congressional delegation. So, Trump. wrote, quote, "A rigged election took. place last night in the great. Commonwealth of Virginia. All day long. Republicans were winning. The spirit was. unbelievable until the very end when, of. course, there was a massive mail-in. ballot drop. Where have I heard that. before? And the Democrats eked out. another crooked victory. Six to five.

goes to 10 to one, and yet the. presidential election in November was. very close to a 50-50 split. In addition. to everything else, the language on the. referendum was purposefully. unintelligible and deceptive. As. everyone knows, I am an extraordinarily. brilliant person, and even I had no idea. what the hell they were talking about in. the referendum, and neither do they. Let's see if the courts will fix this. travesty of justice." President Donald. J. Trump. Now, I have thoughts. As. someone who has spent a lot of time. advocating for redistricting, I have. long been an advocate for the. dissolution of independent redistricting.

commissions in California and New York. our weapons, given the fact that. Republicans are perfectly content to. wield Texas and Florida as their own. massive weapons. I hosted a live stream. for Prop 15 California. We raised a. million bucks toward the effort. Hosted. another live stream for Virginia last. week. Which is to say, you will not find. a bigger champion for fighting fire with. fire than me. So, my thoughts. First of. all, I cannot tell you the extent to. which I am unmoved by Republicans. bitching and moaning when it comes to. redrawing the maps. When it was Trump.

who said this last summer. >> When you told Jerry Mandery, and we have an opportunity in Texas to. pick up five seats. We have a really. good governor, and we have good people. in Texas. And I won Texas. I got the. highest vote in the history of Texas, as. you probably know. And we are entitled. to five more seats. >> He's entitled to those seats. And the. hush that fell over the Republican. Party. You could not find a single. member who spoke out against it. And yet. now that Democrats dared fight back, now. that Democrats dared not unilaterally.

disarm, we're watching a party-wide. meltdown on the right. Like, for. example, Mike Johnson. >> It's a hyper-partisan gerrymandering. boondoggle. We fought hard, we raised. a ton of money. We did our best, but the Democrats in. charge of Virginia hoisted this upon the. people. It is still in the courts. We. are confident and calling upon the. Virginia Supreme Court to do the obvious. and right result, and that is to strike. this thing down. Why? Because it was. demonstrated again last night, this is a.

divided state. It's almost 50/50. >> Keep walking, man. >> So, a 10-to-1 map does not is not. justified in that state, and the people. showed it again last night. The fact. that it was so close. demonstrates and proves exactly what. we've been saying from the beginning. >> But, here's how you know that this line. from Trump and Mike Johnson and the rest. of the GOP is complete A, not. one of those people spoke out against. Texas gerrymandering their maps. In. other words, they're not actually. against gerrymandering, they're just. against Democrats using it. But, when.

it's Republicans doing it, they're fine. with it. No fainting spells, no pearl. clutching. They love to throw punches, but when you punch back, they lose their. collective minds. But, B, and more. importantly, they could outlaw partisan. gerrymandering today if they wanted to. Republicans have full control of. government. They've got the House, the. Senate, the White House. If they were. truly against the scourge of. gerrymandering, this race to the bottom, then do something about it. Remember, Democrats tried to pass the Freedom to. Vote Act back in 2021, 5 years ago,

which included a ban on partisan. gerrymandering nationwide. Guess how. many Republicans voted for it? Zero. Not. one. The best time to have passed that. bill was 5 years ago. Second best time. is right now. Again, they're not against. gerrymandering, they just don't like it. when their opposition can return a. punch. They want unilateral disarmament, and they don't know how to react when a. response by the left just a strongly. worded letter. In fact, to reiterate the fact that the. left actually wants no partisan. gerrymandering, I write in my upcoming. book, which is titled The Day After,

quote, "There would be a ban on partisan. gerrymandering with clear rules for. redistricting and judicial remedies for. manipulated maps. That would presumably. be a welcome solution for all those. Republicans clutching their pearls amid. California's map redraw. There would be. added protections for local election. officials to prevent their firings for. partisan reasons, as well as penalties. for destroying ballots or election. records." And again, that book is titled. The Day After. I'm going to put a link. right here on the screen and also in the. post description for those who would. like to pre-order a copy. That would be. a great way to support my work. So, the.

next time that a Republican complains. about this phenomenon, remind them that. they could stop it any moment they like. But, I think what's especially. instructive here is the reaction by. Trump. Not just saying that the election. was unfair, of course he's going to. complain, but rather that it was rigged. That there was a massive ballot drop. Same we heard a hundred times. over in 2020. But, this is instructive. because as we head into midterms, it is. already clear that Trump's priority. right now is using bogus, you know, rigged election claims as a pretext to. actually try and rig the next election.

He's doing it right now by seizing. ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, in. Arizona, and just a few days ago in. Detroit, he tried to pass an executive. order banning mail-in ballots, which, you know, were secure enough for him to. use himself in Florida. He's pushing. Republicans to nuke the filibuster so. that they could pass the Save America. Act, which would, in part, force the. states to hand over voter data to the. federal government. And if you're the. federal government looking to suppress. certain votes, having pertinent. information like your voter affiliation. would probably be pretty helpful. It.

would also mandate certain documents, like a passport, that would be required. to register to vote. And guess who's in. charge of issuing passports? The federal. government. So, these election. interference claims are only growing. louder and louder within the GOP, and. they will continue to grow louder as it. becomes clear that Trump and Republicans. have no legitimate path to victory, so. this is all they have left. And. honestly, I think that's the saddest. part of all of this. I mean, think about. it. If they gave even a fraction of the. attention that they're giving to crying. fraud about every election they lose to.

actually governing, they wouldn't need. to engage in election subversion. But. they just can't do it. They cannot bring. themselves to hold true to any of their. promises. They can't bear the thought of. actually lowering prices or protecting. health care or reducing inflation or. releasing the Epstein files or staying. out of war. So, instead, they promise. these things on the campaign trail, and. then when people inevitably get pissed. off because they realize they've been. conned, Trump and the GOP decide to just. rig the game instead. It is the ultimate.

you to their voters. Lie to get. your votes with zero intention of. delivering, and then lie about. non-existent election fraud as a pretext. to undermine the election and just. entrench your majority so that you don't. actually have to be held accountable by. the voters. The reality is that, you know, if you're. a Republican voter, if you're an. independent voter, if you're a. disaffected Democratic voter, you don't. benefit at all by having a political. party in power whose priority is only. entrenching their own control. Like, you. benefit when those elected officials.

know that you still have the power to. rein them in if they start to enact an. agenda that's completely counter to what. they ran on. Case in point right now. So, now is the moment for you to retain. that power, to take that power back. Remember, Republicans are not entitled. to your undying support. They don't own. you. They work for you, not the other. way around. The Virginia referendum does. not happen in a vacuum. It is a. much-needed check on a Republican party. that's completely out of control. And. when they get backed into a corner, they. only get more anti-democratic and more. dangerous. So, absolutely, we should.

celebrate this win, but simultaneously. be cognizant about what's coming in the. future because we can still stop this. slide into autocracy, and that is. exactly what Trump and the GOP are. afraid of. You're watching the No Lie Podcast. Next. up are my interviews with Hakeem. Jeffries and Marc Elias. No Lie is. brought to you by Helix. So, I was a. personal trainer for about a decade. before I got into politics, and I would. tell people every day how to be healthy, how to exercise, how to lift properly, but nothing was more important than. rest. It's actually the time off that. delivers the most results, and that.

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That's shipstation.com, code BTC. shipstation.com, code BTC. I'm. glad to be joined by Hakeem Jeffries. Thanks so much for joining me. >> Good to be with you. >> So, we obviously had a major victory in. in Virginia. This is something that you. had worked on for a long time, and I. want to get into into your participation. in all of this. But, before I do, the map right now as it stands looks to. be mostly set except for the state of. Florida. And so, in light of the results. that we've seen in California, in light.

of the court decision that we saw adding. a seat in Utah, and light now of the the. referendum results in Virginia, what. would your message be to Ron DeSantis as. they consider engaging in a gerrymander. on top of the existing gerrymander? >> That's exactly right. The map in Florida. that already exists was gerrymandered in. 2022. And so, to the extent they try. to take some additional seats in a map.

that was already gerrymandered, What Ron. DeSantis will accomplish is placing. additional Republican incumbents in. jeopardy. And that's the reason why, Brian, so. many Florida Republicans quietly. have gone to the White House. and have gone to the governor telling. him not to go down this road. It was a. disaster for them in Texas where they. claim they're going to take five seats. away from us. They'll be fortunate in. Texas if they get to two or three. Yeah.

And they're going to lose at least one. Republican incumbent as a result of the. Texas gerrymander. And now Ron DeSantis is considering. making the same mistake in Florida. >> Can you talk a little bit more about. what you've heard from these other. Florida Republicans? Because that's been. floating around the zeitgeist a little. bit, but obviously we don't have. as good insight as I'm sure you do in. terms of what these people are saying to. the governor. >> Well, particularly in light of the. continued electoral success that.

Democrats have had. We've now won. elections for 16 consecutive months. starting with an Iowa State Senate race. in January of 2025, running all the way. through what just happened in Wisconsin. where we won a State Supreme Court race. by 20 points. in the state that Donald Trump had just. won in November of 2024. And of course we've won special. elections in Texas. in January of this year where we over.

performed by 31 points. And then we won a special election in. Louisiana. in a House race. >> Both of these not exactly liberal. bastions, right? >> No doubt about it. Conservative suburban. Texas. and then. rural Louisiana. >> Yeah. >> The home state of Mike Johnson and Steve. Scalise. where Donald Trump had won that district. in 2024, I believe by 13 points, the.

Democratic candidate won it by 24. That. was a 37-point overperformance. That. happened in February. And then, in Florida, of course, we flipped the district. in Palm Beach. that is represented by Donald now. represent that Donald Trump. uh lives in in terms of Mar-a-Lago that. is now represented by a Democrat. We. also, of course, flipped the Miami. mayor's ship for the first time in 30.

years by 20 points. That was in. December. And so, as all of these wins. stack up, Florida Republicans and. Republicans across the country are. getting nervous because they know that. Donald Trump has been a failure. Republicans in Congress have been a. failure. They have nothing positive to. run on. They've now gotten us into this. reckless and costly war of choice. And. the last thing they need is to lose. Republicans in their districts, which. will happen if they try to gerrymander.

the map. >> Well, you know, in response to basically. your warning to Ron DeSantis in light of. the Virginia results, DeSantis had come. out today and basically offered up some. ad hominem attacks against. against you. Do you think that this is. him. in in an actual confident state or is. this just him posturing because he knows. he's in a shitty position right now? >> Yeah, I think it's him posturing. And. look, Ron DeSantis is is a failed public. servant, a failed governor, and a failed.

candidate for president. He's reeling. right now. He's underwater in his own. state. He's got no credibility. He's. struggling. His presidential ambitions. are done, finished, right? And he knows. this at this point. He was groveling to. try to become a cabinet secretary. Donald Trump shut him down. Yeah. So, his whole world is falling apart. And now, he's got civil war going on in. his own state with Republicans warning. him that it would be a disaster to go.

down this road because as Democrats, they know we're serious. When we say. we're going to go into a state and we're. going to compete heavily and. aggressively, we're going to do it. >> And and by the way, that's that's a. change from what we had seen before. And. I think this redistricting fight is a. good microcosm for exactly that because. I think for a long time, this is. something I've been um exceedingly. critical of is the idea that if. Democrats are going to fight back, it's. going to be in the form of a strongly. worded letter, right? And now we're. seeing instances where Democrats are. saying, "Okay, you know what? If you're.

going to If you're going to gerrymander. these maps to engineer yourselves. permanent majorities in the house, if. Trump feels like he's entitled to five. seats, that it's not going to be. unilateral disarmament from the. Democrats. They're actually going to. fight back." And we saw that in. California. We saw that now in Virginia. And of course, there's other um. offensive opportunities on the table. That includes New Jersey, New York, Colorado. You know, we'll we'll see what. happens um as we get into the next uh. into the next midterm cycle or the next. general election cycle. But I I want to. talk about your participation in this. because um I I I don't know that a lot.

of people know how involved in all of. this you were. And in fact, even I. wasn't until we had spoken a few months. ago. And you are deep in the weeds of. making this happen. And to your credit, um you're both doing this and and not. out there taking all of the credit that. you should. Um so, I want to give you. the opportunity right here to to talk a. little bit about um what this process. has been like for you largely behind the. scenes. >> Yeah, well, it's been an. all-hands-on-deck effort. And I'm so. thankful that Democrats across the.

country have stepped up in a phenomenal. way. That's the Democrats in Texas in. the state legislature who I went to. visit in late July when this was first. announced to talk about. how we can support their efforts to push. back aggressively. And ultimately, they. made the decision to go on quorum break, which was an important decision to leave. the state not to justify any of the. foolishness that the Texas governor was. trying to do upon being ordered by.

Donald Trump to do it and to shine a. national spotlight on Donald Trump's. efforts to rig the midterm election. To. me, that was sort of key. And then I had. the opportunity to go visit them uh when. they were hanging out in Illinois uh. while the quorum break was underway just. to thank them and continue to encourage. them and to make it clear that we would. support them all the way through their. efforts to push back. That of course. helped to inspire.

California responding. Governor Newsom. was a tremendous leader in this effort. and very early on connected with. Governor Newsom, talked to the. California delegation led by Zoe. Lofgren, the Dean, and Pete Aguilar, the. uh caucus chair, and of course Speaker. Emerita Pelosi, uh and the California. delegation did a tremendous job of. leaning in, working with the governor, and working with the state legislative. leaders, who I also had the opportunity. to engage with.

as we were preparing to. execute the California response through. Prop 50, which we knew needed to be forceful and. decisive, temporary, >> And fast, by the way. >> And fast. There's no doubt about it. At. the same period of time, uh we knew that. and this has been going on now for. 10 months. And. it's one battle after another all across. the country. Yeah. So, we've pushed them. back.

in Texas and forced them into a dummy. mander. We won Prop 50 in California. We've picked up a seat in Utah that a. Democrat will occupy after the November. midterm elections. We stopped them in. New Hampshire, stopped them in Indiana, stopped them in Kansas, and stopped them. in Nebraska. We pushed them back in Ohio, and we're going to hold the three seats.

in Ohio that they thought they were. going to be able to take away from us. That ain't happening. >> Yeah. >> And one of the ways in which we were. able to successfully push them back in. Ohio, working with the legislative. leaders in the Ohio congressional. delegation, is because when they saw we. were serious. in California. and willing to go to the mat, it brought the Ohio Republicans to the. negotiating table because they were. concerned about a referendum. >> Yeah. >> that would have freeze anything that.

they tried to do. And then, of course, working with. Abigail Spanberger, our governor, and. she's been an amazing leader, Don Scott, uh the speaker of the house, the. legislative leaders and members of the. Virginia General Assembly, the Virginia. congressional delegation, and all along. President Barack Obama, who's been a. forceful. advocate for a strong response, and. former Attorney General Eric Holder, >> Yeah. >> uh we've gotten to this point. But, we're going to keep our foot on the gas.

pedal. And. we're just in a moment of maximum. warfare. everywhere, all the time. And the next battlefield is in Florida. And we. we we mean it when we say we're going to. go in hard. if they tinker with this map. and create additional opportunities for. us to defeat Republican incumbents. >> Well, I think it's it's important to. note, um. that that while we could and should. celebrate this victory in Virginia,

that, you know, obviously this this. fight will continue, especially in light. of the fact that we have um the Cala. case section two of the Voting Rights. Act which is likely to come down any day. now. and that will likely gut what's. remaining of the Voting Rights Act which. means all of these black opportunity. districts. which mandate. black representatives in you know the. deep south where there would otherwise. be gerrymandered maps those will likely. go away. and that could that could mean a swing.

of a dozen two dozen maybe even more. seats across the country. We also have. the prospect in 2030 of the census. getting handed down and that taking. seats away from. from traditionally or historically blue. states and giving them to red states and. what they'll do with them we. is already clear and so how does that. make you think about the battlefield. that we're looking at right now I mean I. know I had mentioned. New Jersey New York Colorado how does it. make you look at the rest of the map in. light of what's coming down the pike?

>> Yeah so we you know we're going to. continue to press forward finish the job. in 2026 and we're close to being able to. do that right now. Republicans are down in the. redistricting war that they started. anywhere between three and five seats. and the DeSantis dummy man there is not. going to help them out in Florida if. they go down this road. >> Yeah. >> We got to finish the job in 2026 but as. you mentioned look to the 2028 cycle. because it's our expectation that.

Republicans will never learn the lesson. of engaging in a way that is consistent. with free and fair elections because. they've adopted voter suppression as a. strategy Brian because these people have. no ideas they failed. they're a disaster the economy's fallen. apart the war is deeply unpopular Isis. out of control they got nothing. and yes as Democrats we're going to. continue to articulate a vision for. making life better for the American. people for driving down the high cost of.

living fixing our broken health care. system, making sure that everyone in. America who works hard and plays by the. rules, working class folks, middle class. folks, communities of color, everyday. Americans, you work hard, you play by. the rules, you should be able to live an. affordable life, a comfortable life, and. live the good life. We're going to fight. for that. As Democrats, at the same. period of time, we have to level the. playing field and ensure that there are. free and fair elections. We're going to. do that in the 2026 cycle, and then be. prepared to respond aggressively in.

advance of 2028. So, that looks like New. York. and New Jersey. and Colorado. and Washington at minimum. >> Yeah. >> And we're in the process of engaging. with the governors and the legislative. leaders in those states. to to set the possibility of changes in. motion. So, whatever the Supreme Court. does, we're going to have the ability to. respond and respond decisively.

>> I think what's important there is that. all the while, like while this happens, Republicans are suddenly finding finding. their conscience and and uh denigrating. the uh the the race to the bottom that. is gerrymandering, do you have a message. to these Republicans in terms of, you. know, if they want to offer up national. legislation to ban partisan. gerrymandering nationwide, how amenable. you would be to that in very much the. same way that we had every single. Democrat vote for the Freedom to Vote. Act back in 2021 that in part would have.

banned uh partisan gerrymandering, and. you had not a single Republican who. voted in favor of it? >> Yeah, the first thing that comes to mind. is what my grandmother used to tell me, which is, "Be careful what you wish for. cuz you just might get it.". And they started this redistricting war, we are finishing it. At the same period. of time, we believe, of course, that there should. be one national standard. >> Yeah. >> And we're committed to working on that. That partisan gerrymandering.

and mid-decade gerrymandering should be. prohibited in every state, not just blue. states, in every state. And so, that means we. are committed to continuing to move the. legislation forward that we've. previously advanced that didn't get a. single. Republican member to support, but. uh that perhaps they see the light of. day now moving forward having been. pummeled in this fight that they. started. And.

we've had at least a handful of. Republicans or former Republicans turned. independents like Kevin Kiley suggesting. a willingness to now support that. legislation. He, of course, is on his way out. >> Right, he can do that as a private. citizen now. >> He can do that as a private citizen. It. would have been nice for him to speak up. while uh his party was actually trying. to start this war that they thought they. were going to win. >> Right, I mean, that's the ultimate irony. is that all of these people who were. clutching their pearls and having. fainting spells right now didn't have a. word to say when it when Donald Trump. was sparking this movement off in Texas.

And uh and Greg Abbott decided to, you. know, pick up the ball where where Trump. left off and engage in this whole. process in the first place. >> It's incredible to me that Donald Trump. himself, apparently, at the Virginia. rally where he was urging his MAGA. supporters to vote no, said. gerrymandering is bad. Bro, you started this. And you only think it's bad right now. uh when you're on the wrong side of our. efforts to fight back. >> Well, to that end, Donald Trump actually. took to Truth Social today and wrote, "A.

rigged election took place last night in. the great Commonwealth of Virginia. All. day long Republicans were winning. The. spirit was unbelievable until the very. end when, of course, there was a massive. mail-in ballot drop." Where have I heard. that before? And he goes on to spew out. a few more conspiracy theories, but I. actually think that this is instructive. because it kind of gives us a preview. into what Trump's defense here is going. to be. He's not going to be leaning in. to to try and win votes by virtue of how. he and his party, which has full control. of government, govern. They're looking.

to just cry foul every time there's an. election that they lose. But, the way. that they've been able to weaponize the. positions of power that they hold right. now are actually pretty dangerous. because, you know, you have. um you have Republicans across the. country who are now seizing ballots. We. saw that happen in Fulton County, Georgia. We saw that happen in Arizona. We just saw it happen this past weekend. in Detroit. Meanwhile, you have Trump. signing an executive order that would. ban prohibit mail-in ballots nationwide, even though it's something that's secure. enough for him himself to use. Um and. then finally, you have him leaning on.

the Republicans to nuke the filibuster. so that they could pass the Save America. Act, which would, you know, do a ton of. damage, but in part put the onus on on. people to have a passport to register to. vote. Well, who's in charge of issuing. passports? It's Donald Trump's federal. government. So, um so, what does this. tell you more broadly? This this post. that Donald Trump made about the weapons. that he's preparing to use as we head. toward midterms. >> Well, the so-called Save America Act is. a classic example.

of where Donald Trump's mindset is at. He said that passing this voter. suppression legislation is more. important than housing or lowering the. high cost of living. Explicitly. has said that. Of course, Donald Trump. believes that the affordability crisis. is a hoax. So, we are preparing. >> affordability crisis that he ran and won. on, by the way. >> That's exactly right. Because for this guy, it was all about. trying to seize power. Yeah. And he lied. his way back into 1600 Pennsylvania. Avenue. Promised to lower costs on day.

one. And of course, costs will skyrocket. out of control, including gas prices as. a result of his reckless war of choice. But, I think it does highlight for me. the fact that we are operating under the. assumption. that. Donald Trump is going to do everything. he can to prevent. the midterm elections from being free. and fair. And voter suppression is their strategy. And we've embarked on an effort that I. believe will be the largest voter.

protection effort in the history. of modern day America. And that's going. to involve House Democrats, Senate. Democrats, the Democratic Governors. Association, the DNC, the Democratic. Attorneys Generals Association, the. Democratic Secretary of State. Association, the Democratic Legislative. Campaign Committee, those are the state. legislators, working with the civil rights groups, organized labor, good government groups,

civil liberties groups, democracy. protection groups, and the faith. community. And those efforts have been underway. uh now for months in terms of planning, and we'll continue to intensify the. public engagement over the next few. months as we get inside of the 6-month. countdown to the November general. midterm election. >> Do you have confidence though, given. given the ease with which they can.

deploy the tools at their disposal, and the ease with which Trump has. deployed these tools in the past? I. mean, hell, we're talking about a guy. who literally incited an insurrection at. the US Capitol. This is not someone. uh who's going to be. uh who's going to be precious about when. he decides to to to to wield his power. I mean, this is somebody who's using the. federal government to prosecute. political enemies, judges, Democratic. members of Congress, Democratic. senators. I mean, the sky's the limit. Um do you do you have confidence that.

given the the the opposition that he's. mounting and the tools that he has at. his disposal, that we will have enough. tools on our end to protect our free and. fair elections? >> Yeah, it's an important question, and. we're systematically going after all of. the ways in which he is going to try to. undermine the ability for the American. people to be the ones to make the. decision as to who's in the majority in. the next Congress as opposed to Donald. Trump trying to make that decision for. them by rigging the midterm election.

So, we had to crush his gerrymandering. scheme, and. we're on our way to doing just that. We needed to stop his ability to deploy. the National Guard. Donald Trump, if you recall, throughout much of last. year federalized the National Guard, and. we believe that that was part of his. effort, a trial run, to be able to. unleash troops. in cities, towns, counties, and.

municipalities. in advance of the midterm elections. to try to intimidate people from showing. up. And so, we immediately sued the hell out. of him, working, of course, in partnership with our Democratic. governors, Governor California, Governor. of Illinois, and the Governor. of Oregon. That case went all the way up to the. Supreme Court, and in December, in a 6-3. decision, with conservative justices like Justice.

Roberts, Justice. Amy Coney Barrett, and. one other Republican Justice, Gorsuch, said, "No.". to the Trump administration, and made. clear that he does not have the power to. federalize the National Guard over the. objection. of these governors. And Donald Trump was. forced. to withdraw these National Guard troops.

And so, we've taken that ability away. from him. Now, we're fighting the battle. as it relates to ICE. And one of the. demands that we've put on the table, the. reason why DHS has not been funded by. Republicans up until this point, we want. to fund the other parts of DHS that. don't involve ICE and the CBP. violent mass deportation machine that. Trump has unleashed on law-abiding. immigrant communities and American. citizens, in some cases getting them. killed as we saw horrifically in.

Minnesota. Uh we've put on the table that ICE. cannot conduct itself in sensitive. locations. in terms of operations. And that we've defined as houses of. worship, schools, hospitals, and polling sites. >> Yeah. >> And we're going to continue to push for. that because we want to remove the. ability of this president to deploy ICE. to intimidate communities across the. country. >> All right, well, we will leave it there. Leader Jeffries, thank you so much for.

taking the time. >> Thank you much. >> Mark, we have bombshell good news coming. out of Virginia. I'll give you the. honors. Can you talk about the news that. just broke? >> Yeah, Brian, this is fantastic news. As. a citizen of the Commonwealth of. Virginia, I am pleased to announce that. the redistricting. measure that was on the ballot, it. passed. So, Virginians are going to have. a new map in time for 2026. It's going. to mean four more Democratic seats. as we roll forward into the midterms.

>> All right, so. I don't think that this will happen, but. I want to ask what happens in the event. that Republicans use their one last. option here, which is to appeal up to. the Virginia Supreme Court. Can you talk. about the options that are on the table? >> Yeah, so look, my law firm and I, we are. still in court, and we are like full. speed ahead in making sure that this. result sticks. The Republicans have a. series of lawsuits. I wish it was just. one lawsuit. They've got a whole bunch. of lawsuits that they filed that, you.

know, are in various stages of here and. there to try to block it in the first. instance and when that failed to try to. now undo it, but here's the thing, you. know, the courts in Virginia like every. place else are going to look at these. results and ask themselves, number one, what is the law? What does the. Constitution say? And this is the the. process for changing the Constitution in. Virginia. So, I think just on the. merits, there's not really anything to. what the Republicans are claiming. But. then the second thing is you know,

they're going to look at the results and. they're going to say, are we really. going to after a vote, after the people. of the state of Virginia came out and. voted in overwhelming numbers to adopt. this, are we really now going to reverse. it? And the answer to that is no. So, yes, there is still important cleanup. work to be done. There is still. important legal work to be done. Tomorrow morning in canvas locations in. counties all throughout the. Commonwealth, people at my law firm and. others will be out making sure that. there is no mischief going on there.

We'll obviously run through the tape in. these court cases, but Brian, it is a night that we can celebrate. great news for democracy, great news for. Democrats, a big night for Hakeem. Jeffries, and you know, and the and the. effort to to push this through. Abigail. Spanberger, the Democratic governor, you. know, they got a lot of criticism, but. in the end, like Gavin Newsom, they. pulled it off. >> And I want to note that again, this. stuff wouldn't happen if we didn't have. fighters like you and your team who were.

litigating this stuff in the courts. The. the political stuff notwithstanding, we. need lawyers who are actually going to. be fighters. You and your team are are. the the the peak among them. So, a small. step that everybody watching right now. can take to support that work, to help. elevate Mark's voice, Mark's profile, and to support the work that they do in. the courts is to subscribe to Democracy. Docket, which by the way already. released their their coverage of what. we're seeing right now happen in. Virginia. So, whether you're looking to support the. work that they do in the media space or.

the work that they do in the courts, the. best way that you can show that support. is to go ahead and subscribe. So, I'm. going to put that link right here on the. screen and also in the post description. of this video. Mark, I have heard all of the the. protest from Republicans online who. claim that okay, now we have a likely. 10-1 map coming in Virginia and Virginia. is closer than that map would suggest. And so, what would your response be to. those people who are suddenly finding. their voice when it comes to. partisan gerrymanders only as it relates.

to Virginia? >> Look, if if Republicans want to do away. with partisan gerrymandering, they can. support the legislation that Hakeem. Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and the. Democrats in Congress have introduced to. ban partisan gerrymandering. Like, we. didn't hear any complaints from the. Republicans when Donald Trump was. forcing Texas to do this. We didn't hear. any complaint from Republicans when they. were redrawing maps. in Kansas City to do away with to. basically break that city into a. thousand little pieces to three. different pieces. We didn't hear any of.

their concerns when they were. gerrymandering in North Carolina. Like, the only time we've heard any. Republicans express concern about. partisan gerrymandering was in. California and then in Virginia, which. by the way, are the two states where it. was actually the people the people in. both of those states actually voted on. it. So, it's not like these were. backroom map deals, you know, of. politicians. You know, I went out and I. voted on Saturday. I voted early and I.

voted yes and a majority of Virginians. voted yes. I know when it was in. California, you were a big part of. leading that effort. I hope everybody. supports your work by subscribing to. this channel and staying informed on. everything that's going on in in the. world of politics and law and and. culture. But but Brian, the Republicans, they They have boo to say about any of. those states. And guess what? Now as Ron. DeSantis looks at what he's going to do. in Florida, where where are those. voices? Have you heard anything from.

Kevin Kyle Lee complaining about what. what's going on in what's going on in. Florida? >> Oh, they. >> Have you heard anything from the the. congressional delegation the Republican. congressional delegation of. Virginia about what's going on and what. may go on in Florida? No. So, it's all a. bunch of hypocrisy. If they want to ban. all partisan gerrymandering, they're. going to have partners with Democrats do. it. But it's not going to be that we. only we only. stand down in states that Democrats. control. Those days are over. Let me. just tell you something. If you think. the days of Democrats playing by one set.

of rules and Republicans playing by. another, you're kidding yourself. >> Yeah, and I think that's the perfect. point here is Republicans had nothing to. say when it was just the Republicans. gerrymandering the map because Donald. Trump came out and broadcast that he. felt he was entitled to five more seats. in Texas. That was no problem. What. their problem is is not with the fact. that that Democrats are are re-drawing. these maps. It's that it's that. Democrats aren't unilaterally disarming. And and by the way, I almost get why. Republicans would just assume that this.

was baked in and that's because. Democrats have largely hewed to this. idea that, you know, okay, we can just. defer to, you know, good governance and our institutions and. norms. and and that would be how we kind of. operate while the Republicans run. roughshod over democracy as a whole. And. I'm glad to see that there are finally. Democrats who are in office right now. who recognize the urgency of the moment. that we're in. Democrats like Gavin. Newsom who saw this thing through to the.

end. By the way, before it was, you. know, the the politically sexy thing to. do, saw this thing through to the end in. a state that that where there was a. million reasons. to have not done it. Then for Abigail. Spanberger and and State Senator. Lucas to have done the same thing along. with the other Democrats in in Virginia. to have seen this thing through to the. end. And and so I guess my question here. is what would your message be to other. Democrats across the country in states. that are even bluer than Virginia? And. Virginia is no, you know, Virginia is.

not the bluest state in the country by. any stretch of the imagination. And so. what would your message be to these. Democrats in New Jersey, in New York, in. all of these other. states like Colorado where we have a. little bit more upside because they're. even bluer, but we haven't yet um taken. full advantage of the maps to fight fire. with fire. >> Now look, the Republicans are not going. to back away from their strategy. So. Democrats can't let up now. There is no. There is no unilateral disarmament in. this world. We need to be as aggressive. on our side as they are ruthless on.

their side. And by the way, I want to. give a plug for people who have not. already done so to pre-order Brian's. book. The Brian actually talks about the. fact that when Democrats take power at. the federal level, when they take power. at the federal level, we need to to play. by the same set of rules the Republicans. have. Now, that doesn't mean graft, that. doesn't mean corruption, that doesn't. mean illegality, it doesn't mean any of. that. But what it does mean is using the. levers of power to do the bidding of the. American public rather than the bidding.

of the Trump family and his and his. friends. So please join me right now in. pre-ordering that book. I've not only. pre-ordered ordered it, I have written. the forward for it, the first time I've. ever written a forward for a book. because this one's so important for you. to pre-order. And look, my preference is. you always get it from an independent. bookseller, but if you don't, you got my. permission to go get it from Amazon or. wherever else. Most important thing is. you pre-order it. >> And I'm going to put the link to. pre-order that book, which is called The. Day After, right here on the screen and. also in the post description of this.

video. It's a huge help to pre-order the. book, and you can also see on that same. landing page the dates for the book. tour. So if you live in DC or New York. or Chicago, San Francisco, or Los. Angeles, um, please grab a ticket and. come see me talk in person. >> And if you're in DC, I'll be there with. Brian. We'll be there, you know, Brian is a big. star, so you'll you'll want to you'll. want to, you know, hear from him, but I. promise you I'll be there. And so I'll. be happy to to talk to any of you if you. sign up for the one in DC, and Brian may.

even invite me to some of the other. ones. >> Yeah, that's it. Um, okay, but Marco, I. want to go back to this question that we. had discussed before, and that is a. message that you would send to these. other Democratic governors, for example, who haven't yet, uh, seen the full. upside of this strategy play out. >> Look, it's good policy, it's good. politics, and we need you to do it. I. mean, the fact is this whole thing has. been a calamity for Donald Trump. And. what that means is that if you are on. the fight side, if you are on the side. that Gavin Newsom's on, you're on the.

side that Abigail Spanberger's on, you're on the side that Frankly Hakeem. Jeffries has done a great job, you know, marshaling opposition to what. Republicans are doing, and also leading. the effort here in in these states. If. you're on that side, it is not just that. you are going to get better results on. policy, but it's really good politics. I. mean, Gavin Newsom has has shot to the, you know, shot to the moon over over. what he's done, and my prediction is. Abigail Spanberger is going to see the. same thing right now. You know, people. have been on her and criticizing her,

but I'll tell you what, no one. but I'll tell you what, there's nothing. Americans like more than a winner, and. Abigail Spanberger is a winner tonight, and Donald Trump is the biggest loser. >> It's also worth noting here the. importance of this strategy, especially. in light of two things that are coming. down the pike, and that is, um, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, that case, the Cale v. Holder case, um, we're expecting any day now the Supreme. Court, uh, to issue a ruling in this. case, and it's largely believed that the.

Supreme Court is going to gut Section 2. of the Voting Rights Act, which means. that all of these black opportunity. districts will be, uh, no longer. mandated by the Voting Rights Act and so. these Republican-led states can redraw. their maps and eliminate these black. opportunity districts. And the second is. that we have the census coming up in. 2030 and we're seeing we're going to see. a lot of population movement from these. big blue liberal bastions, these states. that Democrats have control in, down to. the Sunbelt, for example, where. Republicans are largely in control. And.

we've seen the extent to which they're. willing to redraw the maps in their. favor. Uh and just like they're doing it. right now, they'll do it even more when. they have uh. added electoral votes. So, can you talk. about the fact that this is actually a. proactive strategy in light of the fact. that we have we likely do have some bad. news coming down the pike? >> Look, here's the deal. Politics is a. game of inches. It's not, you know, a. lot of people think that politics is. about landslides. Even the landslides in. this country are not landslides. You. know, it's not like it's not like you've.

got people winning by 20 points, 30. points, you know, in competitive. elections. And so, each one of these. seats matters. You know, you look at you. look at what the majority that the. Republicans have right now in the house. And you know, depending on the day and. who's resigned, you know, it's three. seats, it's four seats, maybe it's five. seats. But like it's truly seat by seat, hand-to-hand combat. And so, you know, whether it is the fact that Republicans. are going to take their next shot in. Florida. Whether it is that you know,

you have the census coming up. Whether. it is that if the Supreme Court rules. you know, the wrong way in the Colay. case, you could see Republican. legislatures in the deep south. gerrymander you know, black. citizens take you know, dilute their. voting power by by by by gerrymandering. further. Or frankly, it's Donald Trump. seizing ballots or trying to change the. rules of who can vote by mail. All of. these things. are critically important because each. one of them uh can be the.

difference-maker between who wins and. who loses and who controls Congress and. who doesn't and ultimately who controls. the presidency because of course the. Electoral College is also affected by. the the census. So, look, you know, my. message to you is take the night and. celebrate Virginia and then tomorrow. recommit yourself to the hard work. Because the hard work is still in front. of us. Like Donald Trump tomorrow. morning will still be in office. Donald. Trump tomorrow will still be going after. his political opponents using the. Department of Justice. Donald Trump.

tomorrow will still be scheming with. governors to try to figure out how to. screw you out of your right to vote and. in some states like Florida how to screw. you out of fair districts. So, like we. cannot let up and we cannot assume that. because we've had a victory here or. they've had a setback there that we are. you know, we're inevitably going to win. the midterm elections. Right now, Republicans are very unpopular, Donald. Trump's very unpopular and you know, things are lining up well. But there's a. lot of hard work that has to take place.

between now and then. That's the work. that I do in the courts. It's the work I. try to do in speaking out. It's the work. that Brian does in speaking out and it. frankly it's the work he did in writing. this book, which is why I recommended it. earlier. Because part of the message of. that book is that when you gain power, you need to use that power. You need to. be prepared to use that power. We can. complain all we want about Project 2025. and Donald Trump, but the fact is they. came in with a plan to act to get an.

authoritarian uh uh vision and that's. what they're doing. And Brian in this. book is laying out. what it is Democrats need to be prepared. to do. So, again, I just ask you to. subscribe to it. I'd ask you to sign up. for Democracy Docket and I'd ask you to. celebrate for tonight the victory in. Virginia. >> Perfect place to leave off. Again, I'm. going to put the link to Democracy. Docket right here on the screen. If you. want again to support the invaluable. work that Mark and his team are doing in. the courts by protecting our rights and. actually showing some fight where there.

has been so little fight in the past. Again, a small step we can all take to. show that support. It's to subscribe to. Democracy Docket. And of course, if. you'd like to buy. pre-order the new book, The Day After, I'm going to put that link on the screen. and in the post description as well. To. listen to the audio version of this. episode, click the link right here on. the screen and please make sure to. subscribe. And of course, to see more. video content, that subscribe button's. on the screen as well.