WHOA: Feud ERUPTS on air between Brian Tyler Cohen and rightwing host

So, you tell me looking at these maps. how that is a fair representation uh for. Republican voters in states like Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, etc. Right. And we can play the same game in. South Carolina, in Alabama, in. Louisiana, in Georgia, in Florida, in. Texas. You you conspicuously left all of. those out. But that that really raises. the question here that because. gerrymandering is happening everywhere, shouldn't Republicans support uh uh a.

nationwide ban on gerrymandering? And. yet when that was put forward in 2020. Yes. >> gerrymandered districts in America are. not from Republicans, as we just showed. on the map. >> a look at take a look at take a look at. Wait. Wait. Hold on. Let me respond to. what you just said. First of all, take a. look at Dan Crenshaw's previous district. and then tell me that gerrymandering. doesn't exist uh in in these Republican. states. But second of all, every single. Republican voted against the 2021. Freedom to Vote Act. Every single. Democrat voted in favor of it. That. would have banned partisan. gerrymandering nationwide. Republicans. right now have full control of. government. Yeah, all of us done with.

the language of that benefit of the. gerrymander. Yeah. >> putting forward legislation. Excuse me. Let me just finish what I'm just saying. There's no legislation being put forward. to ban gerrymandering nationwide. So you. can If you think it's such a scourge. that you can point to New England and. say that there are no Republican. representatives, Republicans have the. power right now to fix it, but they. don't because they know that they. benefit from it. >> are the ones who've been doing this for. years. >> government right now. [laughter]. Republicans do. >> to I want to ask you this. Um Do you. support a nationwide I support the. Supreme Court ruling because I don't. believe in drawing congressional.

districts based on race because that's. racist. Because because because you want. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. You think it's racist You. think it's racist to have representation. for you think. >> the South by having race-based. congressional districts, which the. Supreme Court just ruled against. That's. what just happened. >> So Democrats can't win elections unless. they draw districts based on When they. crack these districts based on race, whether they they can't win elections. because people are fleeing blue states.

for red states and they can't win. elections against the census. They are. counting illegal aliens as part of. congressional districts, which Democrats. are opposed to taking out of that. because they need them for congressional. representation even though So when they. crack these districts, so when they when. they crack these districts and black. voters in South Carolina. >> vote wherever they want. You just don't. draw the lines based on race, which is. racist. You're you're you're you're. you're you're being you're being you're. being you're being you're being you're. being you're you're being purposefully. obtuse and your viewers can see that.

because they they know exactly what it. means when you crack a district from a a. a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a. jurisdiction where there are. overwhelmingly a black or brown voters. and now all of a sudden those districts. are cracked into three other districts. so that their their voting power is. diluted. This is exactly the impetus. Hold on, this is exactly the impetus. This was exactly the impetus for the. Voting Rights Act of 1965. This was exactly the impetus Thank you. Thank you, Brian Tyler Cohen. Thank. you. Talk to you soon.

That was NewsNation host Katie Pavlich. ending the interview with me after I. pressed her on the recent Supreme Court. ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act. Now, first of all, she tries to suggest. that gerrymandering is only used by. Democrats and that those poor innocent. Republicans are but mere victims, which. to be clear is just fiction. Republicans. have gerrymandered Texas, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, and. virtually the entire South. She points. to New England states having no. Republican serving and yet when I.

brought up the raft of red states with. gerrymanders, she pretended that she. didn't know what I was talking about. The reality is that there is only one. side that actually wants to eliminate. gerrymandering. It's the only side. that's introduced legislation to do. exactly that. The Freedom to Vote Act in. 2021 sought to ban partisan. gerrymandering nationwide. Guess how. many Democrats voted for it? All of. them. Guess how many Republicans voted. for it? Literally zero. So, if you think. gerrymandering is a scourge, that's. completely justifiable. But, if you.

think gerrymandering is a scourge when. the other side does it, and only when. the other side does it, and you refuse. to lift a finger when you have full. control of government to stop it, then. you're a hack and too blind to see it. But, then she goes on to say that she. supports the Supreme Court ruling. gutting the Voting Rights Act because. drawing congressional districts based on. race is, quote, racist. To be clear, the. Voting Rights Act is a response to. states diluting black voting power by. expressly cracking their districts and. ensuring that they don't have.

representation. It's not racist to give. black people voting power. What's racist. is taking their voting power away, whether by conservatives before the 1965. Voting Rights Act, or by conservatives. now in 2026. You can't look at a. response to overtly racist behavior and. call that racist and expect taken. seriously, or expect people to think. that you're not being completely. disingenuous. And as I said in the clip, that. phenomenon is why the Voting Rights Act.

was first adopted, because of that. racism. And it's why I it was upheld and. extended and amended in 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992, and 2006, because, surprise, racism did not end, nor did the need for. these protections. And the fact that the. first thing that these southern states. did the moment the Voting Rights Act was. struck down just a few days ago was to. move to eliminate the only remaining. black districts in their states is a. testament to exactly that.

Look at what these states did within a. day of the Voting Rights Act being. gutted. In Louisiana, the governor. called a state of emergency and. immediately suspended congressional. primaries. A state of emergency not for. a flood or a natural disaster or the. sky-high poverty rate or the high crime. rate, but rather to make sure that they. can eliminate districts with black. representation. The state will redraw its map and could. eliminate at least one black district. In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey called a. special session of the legislature to. reinstate a gerrymandered map that had.

previously been struck down by the. Supreme Court. And obviously with this. new decision, that map will likely be. able to stand. The state's two black. opportunity districts may be eliminated. In Tennessee, Governor Lee has convened. a special session starting tomorrow. They're seeking to eliminate the state's. only black opportunity district. In. South Carolina, Republicans are calling. on the governor to call a session to. redraw the maps and eliminate the only. black opportunity district currently. held by Jim Clyburn. So, here's a little explainer, and I'm. going to try to make this really simple.

If you think that taking away the only. representation that black voters in the. entire South have by spreading them. across existing districts with white. conservative representatives is good, and that any effort to give them a voice. in politics is racist, then you are the. racist in this scenario. The reality is that the Republicans are. proving in real time why the Voting. Rights Act was necessary in the first. place. They are hell-bent on denying. black Americans representation, which. underscores the need to not just pass a.

new Voting Rights Act immediately, but. also expand the court so that they don't. just immediately slap it down. And I'm. sorry, but it's been too long. that we have waited to be done with this. Jim Crow era It's been too. long that racist white. conservatives have been trying to black. and brown Americans. We need a new. generation of Democratic leadership that. is willing to sack up and fight not to. achieve compromise, not to achieve. parity, but to win. And that starts with. expanding the court so that six.

right-wing hacks don't get to run the. entire United States government. As I. write in my new book, The Day After, the. first order of a filibuster-free. Congress should be reform of the Supreme. Court. Not the second or the third or. the fourth, or it will be too late to. save the Republic and our independent. judiciary. If any subsequent reforms are. to stand the chance at surviving, we. cannot leave in place a rogue branch of. government with the power to strike down. anything that doesn't comport with its. far-right ideology. If the root of the problem is that we. have a rogue branch of government that.

will always strike down any and all. progressive legislation, including a. Voting Rights Act, then we need to stop. being so precious about that branch of. government. Remember, nine justices is. not in the Constitution. And remember, if Republicans needed to increase the. number of justices, they would do it in. a heartbeat. We will not win if we're. only responding. If the original. interview clip that I showed showed you. anything, it's that these people on the. right will twist themselves into. pretzels to justify their desperation. for power at all costs, even if they. have to disenfranchise millions of.

people to get it. They are fundamentally. anti-democratic. We have to go on offense because that's. what Republicans have done for nearly my. entire lifetime. And it's about time we. fight back while we still have the. chance. >> [music]. >> Before you go, I'm very excited to. announce that I've written a new book. titled The Day After: How to Wield Power. in a Post-Trump World. The book explores. what is, in my opinion, the single most. important theme that we're dealing with. in politics today and moving forward, power. Specifically, how Republicans.

abuse it and how Democrats refuse to. wield it. This book explains how we got. here and more importantly, how we should. finally wield power if we're lucky. enough to get it back. It is the. blueprint for progressives who want to. do far more than just restore the status. quo. Please pre-order today by following. the link on this screen. You can grab. yours from any of the major retailers, like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or. scroll down on the page and get a copy. from an independent bookstore closest to. you. Thanks so much for supporting. independent media.