On Monday’s Chris Jansing Reports on MS NOW, just a day before the Virginia redistricting ballot measure, Jansing wondered why there was confusion among voters amid competing ads that used statements from former President Obama, where the anti-redistricting groups had used Obama’s past statements against gerrymandering to support the Republican cause. Guest Maya Rupert, a former presidential campaign manager for Democrat Julian Castro, said the GOP was “weaponizing Jim Crow” through “targeted misinformation” against black voters
The Virginia Redistricting measure would gerrymander Virginia’s congressional districts to a ten-to-one representation of Democrats in the state from their current six-to-five advantage.
Jansing introduced the topic to Rupert and pointed out confusion among Virginia voters. The main topic of the conversation was competing ads from pro and anti-redistricting groups that were used for their respective sides.
On Monday, MS NOW's Chris Jansing Reports pointed out confusion among Virginia voters ahead of the Redistricting referendum amid competing Obama ads.
— Nick (@nspin310) April 20, 2026
Guest Maya Rupert called the usage of Obama's own words against him as “weaponizing Jim Crow." pic.twitter.com/JdP0GT9m9u
After Jansing played the pro-redistricting ad from Obama, she described - but didn’t play - the Republican ads against gerrymandering:
So, that’s one ad. But Republicans have been airing some old sound of Obama where he raises concerns about redistricting, and then the ad says “vote no.”
Jansing continued, “If you add that to falling poll numbers for the Democratic governor, Spanberger, how worried should Democrats be that voters won't know what they're supposed to do, assuming they actually go?”
Rupert responded with worry and blamed it on “misinformation” that has targeted Black voters:
And, you know, to be clear, groups have been targeting specifically black voters in Virginia with an effort to confuse this issue and get people to either not show up or vote against what, you know, sort of, to vote, thinking that this is saying one thing and it actually says something else.
Obama made statements in the past against gerrymandering, and apparently, according to Maya Rupert, if one used past words against him, you have targeted black voters with confusion?
She went on to say this was the new “playbook that Republicans are planning on using moving forward, that misinformation, but targeted misinformation, going after marginalized communities, going after black voters to try to sow confusion in order to swing the direction of some of these votes.”
In her final words, she said the ads that used Obama’s own words against him invoke Jim Crow:
I'm thinking this becomes the playbook moving forward, and we have to be vigilant about the information that is getting to voters, especially marginalized voters, especially black voters, because they are weaponizing a history of Jim Crow and other efforts to keep black voters away from the polls in order to do this. And that should be deeply concerning to all of us who care about democracy.
When all else goes away, Democrats must always compare things to Jim Crow.
The ultimate confusion of the redistricting saga in Virginia had been dominated by Democrats and their message shift to become, magically, pro-gerrymander. It should be noted that the confusion was deliberate by Democrats in their write-up on the referendum bill and ballot measure question.
The transcript is below. Click "expand":
MS NOW’s Chris Jansing Reports
April 20, 2026
12:54:58 PM Eastern
(...)
CHRIS JANSING: So, Maya, voters say they feel confused in Virginia about what it means to vote yes or no. I want to show you the current ad that features former President Barack Obama.
[Cuts to video]
FMR. PRESIDENT OBAMA [FROM PRO-REDISTRICTING AD]: By voting yes, you have a chance to do something important, not just for the commonwealth, but for our entire country. By voting yes, you can push back against the Republicans trying to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms. By voting yes, you can take a temporary step to level the playing field.
[Cuts back to live]
CHRIS JANSING: So, that’s one ad. But Republicans have been airing some old sound of Obama where he raises concerns about redistricting, and then the ad says “vote no.” If you add that to falling poll numbers for the Democratic governor, Spanberger, how worried should Democrats be that voters won't know what they're supposed to do, assuming they actually go and vote?
MAYA RUPERT: I think everyone should be very worried. And I will be clear, not just about this, but this type of misinformation. And, you know, to be clear, groups have been targeting specifically black voters in Virginia with an effort to confuse this issue and get people to either not show up or vote against what, you know, sort of, to vote, thinking that this is saying one thing and it actually says something else. Those kinds of efforts should concern us deeply, because what that's doing is showing us the playbook that Republicans are planning on using moving forward, that misinformation, but targeted misinformation, going after marginalized communities, going after black voters to try to sow confusion in order to swing the direction of some of these votes.
They're laying out the blueprint and saying that that's what they're going to be doing. I think that for tomorrow, a lot of work is being put in. I do think that people should be taking it seriously. There's a lot of urgency. Show up and vote. But more than I'm thinking specifically about this, I'm thinking this becomes the playbook moving forward, and we have to be vigilant about the information that is getting to voters, especially marginalized voters, especially black voters, because they are weaponizing a history of Jim Crow and other efforts to keep black voters away from the polls in order to do this. And that should be deeply concerning to all of us who care about democracy.
(...)
