Promoting the series God Save Texas -- currently running on HBO -- MSNBC's Morning Joe regulars recently lamented that Democrats are not seizing control of Texas quickly enough as predicted by the media for decades. And, as The New Yorker's Lawrence Wright appeared on both Morning Joe and on PBS's Amanpour & Co. to promote the series (which he executive-produced), the liberal journalist exaggerated how gerrymandered Texas's congressional districts are while ignoring Democrat gerrymandering.
On MSNBC, Wright recalled that The New Yorker editor David Remnick had expressed a cynical view of the state who "couldn't understand" why Wright lives in Austin. Host Joe Scarborough soon jumped in to claim that Texas "at times makes itself difficult to love for a lot of natives."
After the BBC's Katty Kay asked why Texas is still not a Democrat-run state in spite of the demographics moving in that direction, the liberal journalist cracked that the state is behaving like it is "enchanted" and that the "spell" might soon be broken.
He soon added: "And those trends -- Republicans in Texas or nationwide are terrified of. And it's one of the reasons that they've been jiggering the vote and gerrymandering and trying to hold on to power for as long as they can."
Over on PBS in his interview with Amanpour, Wright misleadingly claimed that Austin has five congressional districts with only one held by a Democrat when, in fact, most of Austin is contained within two congressional districts, both of which are held by Democrats (the 35th and the 37th). He recalled: "...the Republicans in Texas have been scrambling to re-jigger the elections and, you know, continue to gerrymander the districts, Austin, where I live, the most liberal city in Texas, but it's got five congressmen -- four are Republicans. So that's what gerrymandering looks like in Texas."
But as journalists fret about how many congressional seats Republicans have in Texas, they never mention that Republicans in California are short-changed on paper substantially more than are Democrats in Texas.
In Texas, where Donald Trump won 52 percent of the vote in 2020, there are 23 out of 38 seats that are drawn to be Republican-leaning where 20 out of 38 would be proportionate. By contrast, in California, Trump won 34.3 percent of the vote, which, proportionately, would work out to 18 seats out of 52. But only seven of California's seats are drawn to be Republican leaning, meaning that, on paper, Republicans are short-changed by 11 seats. And that's in a state which uses a supposedly nonpartisan commission for redistricting which is what the media have pushed as an allegedly more fair way of doing it.
Republicans are also short-changed in states like New York and Illinois, although Republicans were lucky in winning several Democrat-leaning seats in both California and New York in 2022. Also not mentioned was that Texas used to be heavily gerrymandered by Democrats for decades.
Back on Morning Joe, the panel concluded the segment by seeming to cheer for Democrats to finally win dominance over Texas.
SCARBOROUGH: You look at these demographics in Texas. It's becoming more urban, more diverse. That means, unless something dramatically changes, that means Democrats are going to start putting those electoral votes in their column pretty soon.
EUGENE DANIELS, POLITICO WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: If you add Texas, that's a wrap. Like, Democrats are just going to sell over and over and over again...
Transcripts follow:
MSNBC's Morning Joe
February 28, 2024
9:47 a.m. Eastern
LAWRENCE WRIGHT, GOD SAVE TEXAS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: I got into this because my editor at The New Yorker, David Remnick, asked me to explain Texas because he couldn't understand why I live here, and, honestly, I'd wondered that myself. But there was a -- I don't think Texas is properly understood in the rest of the country. People really have strong opinions -- pro or con -- and there's a lot of complexity that's missed. It's important to understand Texas because it's growing so fast that it will be the dominant feature in American politics by 2050 when it's the size of New York and California combined.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: And it is changing demographically in such a dramatic way that the Texas of 2034 will look nothing like the Texas of say, 2014. Alex, I've always been struck by Annette Gordon Reed -- the great historian's -- love for her home state of Texas, and yet, her concern at the same time, it sort of reminds me of the old Faulkner quip about the South -- "I love the South -- I hate the South." It's -- there is a -- Texas at times makes itself difficult to love for a lot of natives. Talk about that.
ALEX STAPLETON, DIRECTOR OF GOD SAVE TEXAS: THE PRICE OF OIL: Yeah, I mean, I think -- I think a lot of -- that's what's so great about what Larry (Lawrence Wright) wrote and what resonated with me and with his book and doing the series is that I think, as Texans, a lot of us struggle with the good and bad of this state and that that's something that's probably a part of the Texan identity. You know, within Texas is a great paradox. There's a lot of things that don't make sense. There's a lot of -- a lot of us that, you know, vote with -- against our interest. We live in communities where we don't quite understand some of the harmful things that are around us. And I think that -- there seems to be a dawn -- a new age here in the state where I think that we're trying to make sense of it, and, you know, this series is a step towards that direction.
KATTY KAY: So, Lawrence, what does -- what does the film and what does the book tell us -- and Texas -- tell us about the intersection of demographics and politics in this country? Because you've got a state in which minorities are growing very fast, but it still doesn't elect Democrats to statewide office. If you extrapolate from Texas for the rest of the United States, is the assumption for Democrats that demographics is working in Democrats' favor just wrong?
WRIGHT: Yeah, you would look at the -- what's happening in Texas right now and scratch your head, right? I mean, it's the most urban state in America. Four of the top 10 cities in population are in Texas. It's the young -- one of the youngest states in the nation. All of those are Democratic vectors that seem to have made no difference in the elections at all. It's as if we live in an enchanted forest, you know. We -- somebody is going to break the spell, and -- because the elected officials don't really represent the population of Texas.
(...)
The thing that people have to understand is that where Texas goes the country will follow. And Texas is important in national politics, now, but it's going to be decisive in the future. And those trends -- Republicans in Texas or nationwide are terrified of. And it's one of the reasons that they've been jiggering the vote and gerrymandering and trying to hold on to power for as long as they can. But ultimately it's, you know, the politics are the fault of Texans. There's no law, for instance, against voting in a primary which would make a profound difference if people got out and actually expressed wishes in the primaries.
(...)
SCARBOROUGH: And I just have to say, if you look at what's happening in Texas, it's what's been happening in America for a long time. Again, with the popular vote, Democrats -- well, let's just say Republicans have lost seven of the last eight elections by popular vote. You look at these demographics in Texas. It's becoming more urban, more diverse. That means, unless something dramatically changes, that means Democrats are going to start putting those electoral votes in their column pretty soon.
EUGENE DANIELS, POLITICO WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: If you add Texas, that's a wrap. Like, Democrats are just going to sell over and over and over again, and so it is incumbent upon Republicans, right, to, if after whatever happens in 2024 to try and figure out how to change the way that they talk to and talk about people of color, young voters and speak to the kind of issues that those folks care about because, you know, six to nine to five, there's only so many other numbers before we flip over -- over to Democrats. And Democrats have done a pretty good job of trying to get in there, but when you talk to Democrats in Texas, they want more help from the national party to help flip Texas faster.
JENNIFER PALMIERE, FORMER BARACK OBAMA WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS: Yeah, it's been a difficult time. I mean, it's been a difficult last few years in Texas for Democrats, you know, after the 2020 election and -- but it does feel like, as the Republican state legislature came in so hot -- passed so many controversial bills, it does feel a little last gaspy --
SCARBOROUGH: Yeah.
PALMIERI: -- in terms of how the Republicans are almost like in a panic like "We can't hold on for very much longer. We're going to get as much conservative stuff done now."
SCARBOROUGH: Katty, the more extreme positions they take, the faster they push the middle in Texas toward Democrats.
KAY: Assuming Hispanic voters don't start voting Republican, right?
SCARBOROUGH: In overwhelming numbers.
KAY: In overwhelming numbers. And that's the worry for the Democratic party. It gets Eugene's point. They have to get down there. When I've been down there in Texas and I've spoken to Hispanic voting groups, they've said Democrats need to show up. It's not a guarantee that demographics are going to work in Democrats' favor. They have to work at it.
(...)
PBS's Amanpour & Co.
February 28, 2024
LAWRENCE WRIGHT, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF GOD SAVE TEXAS: Well, the country is at an inflection point. I mean, we're marching into a very dangerous couple of months right ahead of us. And I'm not a prophet on this -- I can't tell you what's going to happen -- but America, the future of our country is going to be determined, I'm convinced, by the elections. And the thing that one can hope is, you know, this country is constantly changing. You know, when I was a kid, Texas was blue and California was red, you know. These things can change. And with Texas -- which is the future of America because it's growing so fast -- and by the year 2050 it's projected to be the size of New York and California combined. So it will be decisive in American politics.
But if you look at the demography, you know, it's a majority minority state. It is the most urban state in the nation. It's got four of the top 10 most populous cities. It is also a very young state. All of those are change agents and Democratic vectors. So things are going to change, and the Republicans in Texas have been scrambling to re-jigger the elections and, you know, continue to gerrymander the districts, Austin, where I live, the most liberal city in Texas, but it's got five congressmen -- four are Republicans. So that's what gerrymandering looks like in Texas.
(...)
AMANPOUR: Texas also has the dubious, you know, infamy of being the execution capital of the country and maybe even the world. In God Save Texas, there is another, you know, episode called "Hometown Prison," this is the well-known film maker, Richard Linklater. He returns to his hometown -- it's Huntsville. It's where the major, you know, the major execution prison is there. I've actually visited it. Here's what he said. Well, this is a little clip.
(beginning of clip)
RICHARD LINKLATER, GOD SAVE TEXAS: Even today, the criminal justice system looms over my hometown. It's not just people behind bars who are being pushed to the brink. It's state employees.
ED OWENS, FORMER DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: After the executions, this was a long walk.
MICHELLE LYONS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC INFORMATION FOR TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: What I was witnessing really unnerved me.
FRED ALLEN, FORMER CAPTAIN OF CORRECTIONS HUNTSVILLE UNIT: And that's when I broke.
(end of clip)
AMANPOUR: You know, it's interesting, they are set to execute another person tonight, and it is actually interesting also to hear how this damages the soul of those who are doing the executing and part of that whole employee complex.
WRIGHT: Yeah, I was so moved by Rick's segment on our documentaries. You know, he approaches it so humanely. He's not -- he doesn't condemn the people -- he condemns the actions, you know, the way the prison system has turned into an industry, the way the death penalty lingers mainly because of politics.
