Over the past week, CNN and MSNBC have again been demonstrating that journalists and other liberals are not as opposed to gerrymandering as they claim to be -- they just want gerrymandering that favors Democrats.
Reacting to Florida Republicans taking up and passing Governor Ron DeSantis's plan for congressional redistricting, the liberal media have freaked out and cried racism while misinforming their audience about the plan.
On MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell declared that the map "clearly targets people of color," and Maria Teresa Kumar invoked Democrats calling it "overtly racist." On his weekend show, Al Sharpton invoked Russia's war against Ukraine as he asserted that DeSantis has "declared his own war on democracy."
Over on CNN, Don Lemon on Friday asked if there is "any way to see this other than an attack on black voters?" and invoked accusations of DeSantis acting as a "dictator" as he spoke with liberal activist Jasmine Burney-Clark.
CNN reporter Diane Gallagher provocatively quoted Democrats as she appeared on Tuesday's The Lead with Jake Tapper and misleadingly recalled:
They're calling it "racist," "authoritarian," "unconstitutional," and really that's just what I can say on camera. Democrats say this proposal from Governor Ron DeSantis would not only add more Republican seats, but it would diminish black representation in Congress for the state of Florida. There are currently five black members of Congress from Florida. Four of them are Democrats, and this map proposal would eliminate two of those seats -- Representative Val Demings and Al Lawson's seats.
She then dismissively noted Governor DeSantis's argument that his plan actually unwinds the gerrymandering of the old map:
Now, Governor Ron DeSantis says the reason behind this map and his veto of his own party's approved map was because he wanted a, quote, "race neutral" map that he felt adhered to the U.S. Constitution. But Democrats have said that not only do they feel that this would be in violation of the Voting Rights Act but also in violation of Florida's own state constitution, which mandates the protection of those minority districts.
A number of different journalists inaccurately claimed that the 10th district seat of Val Demings was being eliminated when, in fact, it being made several points more Democratic as it is shifting a bit eastward. And, in fact, according to an analysis at FloridaPolitics, the black percentage of the district would barely change, dropping from 26.7 to 26.0 percent.
NBC News political reporter Marc Caputo -- formerly of the Miami Herald -- more accurately pointed out on NBC News Now:
To caution people in focusing too much on the 10th congressional district and the loss of African American voting power, there are a lot of demographic changes that are happening there, and it's difficult to say that, "Oh, that was clearly then eliminating a black-held, African American-heavy seat."
Congresswoman Demings notably announced almost a year ago that she would not be running for reelection so she can run for the Senate, so whether she personally can get reelected in the new district is not an issue.
In truth, there are five black members of Congress from Florida -- four Democrats and one Republican. According to the Almanac of American Politics, three of the Democrats -- Al Lawson, Frederica Wilson, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick -- represent districts where about half of residents are black (one above 50 percent and two below).
And one can easily see from looking at the maps that 5th district that DeSantis is eliminating has been oddly shaped for decades, and the new map will actually be un-gerrymandered compared to the old one.
The same media outlets have also mostly ignored the aggressive gerrymandering of Democrats in states like Illinois, New York, and Maryland, and even ignored recent court rulings striking down the maps in New York and Maryland, preferring instead to put all the onus on Republicans over the issue.
The anti-Republican misinformation on CNN was sponsored in part by Flonase, Lincoln, and Lifelock. And on MSNBC, it was sponsored in part by Aleve, ServPro and T-Mobile. Their contact information is linked.
Here are transcripts of the nasty coverage on MSNBC and CNN:
MSNBC's Velshi
April 17, 2022
9:43 a.m. Eastern
MARIA TERESA KUMAR: "Overtly racist" -- that's how a group of black lawmakers in Florida are describing Governor DeSantis's latest congressional redistricting map.
(...)
Let me read for you reaction from a Florida state senator on this and the state's race issue. "The fact that he has the gall to do something like this clearly shows what he thinks of minorities and black voters." "This is the most overtly racist action that you can do." That is Randolph's -- State Senator Randolph Bracy. What is your reaction to that, Jasmine?
JASMINE BURNEY-CLARK, EQUAL GROUND EDUCATION FUND: My reaction is that I completely agree with the state senator's remarks. ...
(...)
MSNBC's Ayman
April 17, 2022
9:35 p.m. Eastern
ALAINA BEVERLY, FORMER AIDE TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: At its core, his plan is to dilute the African American vote in favor of greater Republican strength in his state, and I'm sure there will be legal challenges to follow.
AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Yeah, I was going to say, he -- in 2018, he only won 14 percent of the black vote. It seems now -- it appears to be a case of, if he can't get their vote, he definitely wants to try and dilute it.
(...)
CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper
April 19, 2022
5:33 p.m. Eastern
JAKE TAPPER: Dianne, a special session has started. What are Democrats saying about DeSantis's map?
DIANNE GALLAGHER: Well, Jake, they're calling it "racist," "authoritarian," "unconstitutional," and really that's just what I can say on camera. Democrats say this proposal from Governor Ron DeSantis would not only add more Republican seats, but it would diminish black representation in Congress for the state of Florida. There are currently five black members of Congress from Florida. Four of them are Democrats, and this map proposal would eliminate two of those seats -- Representative Val Demings and Al Lawson's seats.
Now, Governor Ron DeSantis says the reason behind this map and his veto of his own party's approved map was because he wanted a, quote, "race neutral" map that he felt adhered to the U.S. Constitution. But Democrats have said that not only do they feel that this would be in violation of the Voting Rights Act but also in violation of Florida's own state constitution, which mandates the protection of those minority districts.
(...)
CNN's Inside Politics with John King
April 20, 2022
12:32 p.m. Eastern
ABBY PHILLIP: He's doing it by eliminating a lot of districts that represent -- that are represented by black lawmakers. And so part of the explicit part of this is for DeSantis to say he's calling some of these districts racially gerrymandered -- "we're going to make it race-neutral." He's eliminating a lot of districts that are represented by a plurality of black voters. That's part of the culture war, too.
(...)
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports
April 20, 2022
12:43 p.m. Eastern
ANDREA MITCHELL: And this is not the only thing that DeSantis seems to be doing to try to out-Trump Trump. The Florida Senate today approving his redistricting plan eliminating black-majority districts to give Republicans a bigger edge in congressional seats. ... So listen to State Senator Osgood earlier today slamming the governor's congressional map.
STATE SENATOR ROSALIND OSGOOD (D-FL): Black people are in this state. They make up a large portion and sector of the state. And they're not going away. And right now, the people that I represent are hurt. They feel disrespected. (editing jump) When we bring out maps in this way that clearly, clearly targets people of color (editing jump) we're taking a step back.
MITCHELL: So let's talk about how this map clearly targets people of color.
KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: It does. It seeks to split up districts -- split black people up among districts in a way that dilutes their voting power.
(...)
MNSBC's Deadline: White House
April 20, 2022
4:34 p.m. Eastern
MAYA WILEY, MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST: Ron DeSantis in Florida, he's literally just going to stuff black people, you know, separate black people out so there's less representation for black people.
(..)
CNN's Don Lemon Tonight
April 22, 2022
11:35 p.m. Eastern
DON LEMON: Governor DeSantis also signing bills today punishing Disney -- Florida's largest employer -- for opposing the so-called "don't say gay" bill and redrawing the state's congressional map, which opponents complain targets black voters. Civil rights groups are suing to block that law. ... So let's take a look at this new map that dismantles Florida's 5th district which connects black communities from Tallahassee to Jacksonville and is represented by black Democrat Al Lawson. And it shifts the 10th district represented by Val Demings east toward whiter communities. Is there any way to see this other than an attack on black voters?
JASMINE BURNEY-CLARK, EQUAL GROUND EDUCATION AND ACTION FUND: Don, you've been following the state of Florida and the governor's attack on black voters and black Floridians for quite some time now. This particular legislative session is no different than what we've experienced since his administration began. There is no other way to see this than to see it as an attack or just another example of what it looks like for a governor who has created racist tactics to eliminate the black voice and representation in the state. Florida currently has 28 congressional districts as of the 2020 census. Four of them are considered black access, and he has submitted a map this week and has had that map passed out of the legislature that eliminates 50 percent of the four black access districts in the state. That is direct targeting this administration onto the backs of black Floridians and Florida.
LEMON: You know, Jasmine, Congressman Al Lawson says that DeSantis is showing Florida voters he is governing as a dictator. How do you see it? Do you see it that way?
(....)
LEMON: Listen to this. This is Governor DeSantis earlier this week.
GOVERNOR RON DeSANTIS (R-FL): It will, though, have north Florida drawn in a race-neutral manner, and we are not going to have a 200-mile gerrymander that civvies people up based on the color of their skin. That is wrong. That is not the way we've governed in the state of Florida.
LEMON: "Drawn in a race-neutral manner," he says. What does that mean?
BURNEY-CLARK: It absolutely means nothing when you think about the fact that he is targeting only two of the 28 congressional districts in the state, and they just so happen to be two of the four black. We can't say that it's race-neutral when you are removing textbooks from our school and saying that they consist of Critical Race Theory. It is hard to say that any of this is race-neutral when they are on the backs of black people, and we are the ones who are being suffered -- or having to suffer through this because of a governor who is choosing to acknowledge our existence.
LEMON: Jasmine, thank you. Appreciate it. Have a good weekend.
(...)
MSNBC's PoliticsNation
April 23, 2022
5:22 p.m. Eastern
Al SHARPTON: DeSantis's effort to build himself into the next Trump may have also led him to declare his own war on democracy. He wrestled control of congressional mapmaking away from his own party in order to push a plan that would gerrymander two largely black districts out of existence.
(...)
MSNBC's Ayman
April 23, 2022
9"08 p.m. Eastern
AYMAN MOHYELDIN (speaking with Democratic State Senator Tina Polsky): Let me ask you about something you brought up, very quickly, -- that is the gerrymandering. Florida Republicans just passed a new gerrymandered congressional map that severely limits the voting power of black Floridians and dilutes them. Your -- you protested that legislation. Tell us why and what is likely to happen. You're talking about legal challenges to it?
