Voto Latino's Maria Teresa Kumar guest hosted Saturday’s edition of Velshi on MSNBC and declared that a key reason Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won re-election is because he gerrymandered the state. The fact that you can’t gerrymander a statewide office made no difference to Kumar.
Addressing the Lincoln Project’s Tara Setmayer, Kumar asked, “is Ron DeSantis Trump 2.0?” Downplaying the threat DeSantis poses to Democrats, she alleged, “a lot of people are asking this question, but one of the things that has been under reported is the fact that Ron DeSantis, yes, he won, but he highly gerrymandered the state of Florida and oftentimes, people say, “well, that was, you know, he was a statewide office.”
They say that because it’s basic civics and while gerrymandering is a difficult concept for MSNBC to understand and even if it were true, it would hardly be unique to Florida or even red states. Yet, Kumar continued to search for excuses as she further wondered, “But gerrymandering has the impact of chilling potential voters for the opposite side of going out and voting. There’s no way he could gerrymander himself across 50 states. What would be his pathway?”
DeSantis won by nearly 20 points, only somebody in denial would attribute that to “chilling” redistricting. For her part, Setmayer retorted, “Well, he also can't gerrymander himself political charisma or retail politics either.”
Earlier in the segment, Kumar asked Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker, “that the snake oil you speak of, is it only from Donald Trump, or does the snake oil also stick to different candidates? And I'm thinking of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He’s the one that comes to mind.”
Cobb replied “sure,” but that “whether its Ron DeSantis or someone else, the problem is the parameters and the tolerance for the kinds of anti-democratic behaviors that were mainstreamed and normalized during the Trump Administration.”
The main “anti-democratic behavior” Cobb cited was lying as if that is somehow unique to Trump or Republicans.
This segment was sponsored by Walgreens.
Here is a transcript for the November 19 show:
MSNBC Velshi
11/19/2022
9:33 AM ET
MARIA TERESA KUMAR: Now, my question to you is that the snake oil you speak of, is it only from Donald Trump, or does the snake oil also stick to different candidates? And I'm thinking of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He’s the one that comes to mind.
JELANI COBB: Sure. I mean, so I think that irrespective of what Donald Trump's political future is, he's established a playbook and, you know, we see, you know, what the parameters of dishonesty, and just, the incredible mendacity that characterized Trump's behavior with, you know, just, lie after lie after lie after lie, for a politician who lies half as much, or three-quarters as much, they look honest in comparison and so it really is, you, whether its Ron DeSantis or someone else, the problem is the parameters and the tolerance for the kinds of anti-democratic behaviors that were mainstreamed and normalized during the Trump Administration.
KUMAR: You know, I think that's right, and I think it's incredibly dangerous. Tara, I want to ask you, is Ron DeSantis Trump 2.0? And a lot of people are asking this question, but one of the things that has been under reported is the fact that Ron DeSantis, yes, he won, but he highly gerrymandered the state of Florida and oftentimes, people say, “well, that was, you know, he was a statewide office.”
But gerrymandering has the impact of chilling potential voters for the opposite side of going out and voting. There’s no way he could gerrymander himself across 50 states. What would be his pathway?
TARA SETMAYER: Well, he also can't gerrymander himself political charisma or retail politics either.
KUMAR: You said it!
