In a follow-up to his redistricting smears and fear-mongering from earlier in the week, CNN Prime Time host Chris “Fredo” Cuomo teamed up with Obama Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday to spread misinformation and lies about Republican redistricting after the Census Bureau determined multiple red states were picking up seats from blue states. And at one point, Holder, who now works for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, laughably proclaimed: “I'm not trying to gerrymander for Democrats.”
Pointing out “the crazy maps … like Maryland's 3rd District, or Texas' 33rd, Illinois' 4th District,” Cuomo’s segment started out as fair. “These maps, as messed up as they look, they're not just proof of politicians, from both parties, playing the same old games. This is why nothing gets done.”
But, of course, things took their usual anti-Republican turn as Fredo parroted his false talking point that Republicans had more representation in national politics than they deserved:
50/50 in the Senate, but remember, the 50 percent of the Republicans, the 50 seats they have, they represent a fraction of the number of people that the Democrats do. The six-seat spread in the House, again, you have a minority with as much almost representation as a much bigger majority. Why? Redistricting.
Now, it’s easy to mock him and suggest he failed high school civics but what he was doing was insidious. The point was to gaslight his viewers about how America’s constitutional republic worked and make it seem like the GOP was cheating to stay in power.
“In theory, those tight margins should shift, right? Power should go to the middle. Make folks work together to get stuff done. No. It's not happening. Why? You have to go back to the last census,” he added as he spun a lie about mass GOP gerrymandering (click “expand”):
Here's what happened 10 years ago, all right? Way bigger jump for people of color, than for Whites, and they were moving to places that have long voted Republican. I believe that is going to continue in this census. Yet the GOP maintained power. How did they maintain power while relying even more on White people? Why? Redistricting, OK? The last time we saw it, it's where the Tea Party came from, Congressman like Ohio's Jim Jordan. His district is over 90 percent White, about 10 percent higher than the rest of the state. Geez, what a coinkidink!
And a year since, look at who joined him. The QAnon kook! That District didn't exist until the last census. And it was drawn as part of a map the late John Lewis called, quote, “an affront to the spirit and letter of the Voting Rights Act.”
After a commercial break, Cuomo brought on Holder to claim “what the Republicans are trying to do is to maintain the illegitimate power.”
Fredo wanted to size up how the Democrats would fair against those dastardly Republicans, and to quell those concerns, Holder boasted that “Democrats are far more organized now” and would keep the GOP in check. Adding:
We have focused solely on this redistricting process since 2017. We've put in place commissions to draw the lines instead of politicians. We’ve elected people who will be involved in the redistricting process such as governors will be able to veto the maps put forward by Republican legislatures. And we've also galvanized our advocacy program. We have people all around the country who are focused on this issue in a way that we were not focused in 2011.
Holder also told Cuomo that they were ready to counter the GOP if they tried to “engage in racial gerrymandering” and “use the federal courts” to stop them. Meanwhile, it was Democrats who created the idea of majority-minority districts to help increase minority representation in government. “But our biggest tool would be for Congress to pass HR1, which is now S1, the For the People Act,” he said.
“Let me be clear here, I'm not trying to gerrymander for Democrats. I simply want the system to be fair,” he ridiculously asserted. And just before the conversation shifted to police shootings, Holder bloviated: “Republicans have to cheat and they’re comfortable with that. They're okay being a minority party that has majority power.”
Obviously, Fredo agreed because he’s a Cuomo, a Democratic family that treated New York as their own fiefdom.
Chris Cuomo’s anti-Republican smears and misinformation was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Behr and Sandals Hotels & Resorts. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
April 27, 2021
9:32:58 p.m. EasternCHRIS CUOMO: Census data is out. And it's going to lead to redistricting. Redistricting, gerrymandering, "Yeah, what do I care?" Oh, you’ll care!
You've seen the crazy maps, right? Like Maryland's 3rd District, or Texas' 33rd, Illinois' 4th District, they're like all these crazy thing. Why? Because they're trying to shoehorn in the people they want in that district. And of course, it's about how money gets appropriated and re-appropriated.
Now, you think "Well, why do I care, if it's not going into my checking account?" You're wrong.
These maps, as messed up as they look, they're not just proof of politicians, from both parties, playing the same old games. This is why nothing gets done. It's why the crazy is amplified like never before. This is how the people, who work for you, make sure they don't have to listen to you.
See, you want to gauge how much this matters, look at the speed of the lawsuits being filed. That speed speaks to how thin the margins are.
50/50 in the Senate, but remember, the 50 percent of the Republicans, the 50 seats they have, they represent a fraction of the number of people that the Democrats do. The six-seat spread in the House, again, you have a minority with as much almost representation as a much bigger majority. Why? Redistricting.
In theory, those tight margins should shift, right? Power should go to the middle. Make folks work together to get stuff done. No. It's not happening. Why? You have to go back to the last census.
Here's what happened 10 years ago, all right? Way bigger jump for people of color, than for Whites, and they were moving to places that have long voted Republican. I believe that is going to continue in this census. Yet the GOP maintained power. How did they maintain power while relying even more on White people? Why? Redistricting, OK? The last time we saw it, it's where the Tea Party came from, Congressman like Ohio's Jim Jordan. His district is over 90 percent White, about 10 percent higher than the rest of the state. Geez, what a coinkidink!
And a year since, look at who joined him. The QAnon kook! That District didn't exist until the last census. And it was drawn as part of a map the late John Lewis called, quote, “an affront to the spirit and letter of the Voting Rights Act.”
We see the same thing playing out as we speak. Once again, most of the growth in this country is people of color. Once again, numbers are growing in the South and the West.
"So, what's the concern?" Who's going to get the power? Because Republicans, 10 years ago, were playing, to political advantage, at the state level, the party of today is working to carve America into an "Us" and "Them."
Whether it's restricting access to the polls, limiting constitutional rights to protest, banning treatment for trans kids, it's all an active effort in States that are about to pick up congressional seats.
(…)
9:40:41 p.m. Eastern
ERIC HOLDER: Well, the demographics might be changing, but the distribution of political power is not changing. In fact, power is being taken away from those groups. What the Republicans are try to do is to maintain the illegitimate power that they obtained during the redistricting that happened ten years ago by voter suppression and by engaging in gerrymandering through the course of the redistricting process that we are just about to start.
CUOMO: Are they poised to take advantage of the redistricting process again this time, if so, why?
HOLDER: Well, they're going to certainly try. But they're not going to be as successful as they were in 2011. The Democrats are far more organized now.
I head the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. We have focused solely on this redistricting process since 2017. We've put in place commissions to draw the lines instead of politicians. We’ve elected people who will be involved in the redistricting process such as governors will be able to veto the maps put forward by Republican legislatures. And we've also galvanized our advocacy program. We have people all around the country who are focused on this issue in a way that we were not focused in 2011.
Now, having said all that, it's going to be difficult, especially in states like Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, where they have a trifecta, they control both the governorship and both houses of the legislature. Those are going to be the most difficult states for us.
CUOMO: And what happens if this goes against your interests?
HOLDER: Well, we've got litigation alternatives. We can certainly, where they engage in racial gerrymandering, we can use the federal courts. Where they engage in partisan gerrymandering, it's more difficult as a result of the Rucho decision by the Supreme Court, which said you can't bring partisan gerrymandering cases in the federal courts, a disastrous and terrible decision.
But we can bring partisan gerrymandering cases, as we have, in the state courts based on the state constitutions. We've been successful in states like North Carolina as well as Pennsylvania. So, we still have tools. But our biggest tool would be for Congress to pass HR1, which is now S1, the For the People Act. That would do away with, outlaw partisan gerrymandering, define what partisan gerrymandering is and give us another tool just to make the system fair.
Let me be clear here, I'm not trying to gerrymander for Democrats. I simply want the system to be fair. Because I’m actually confident, if it's fair, Democrats, progressives will do just fine. Republicans have to cheat and they’re comfortable with that. They're okay being a minority party that has majority power.
(…)
