MS NOW's Wild Spin with Dem Leader: GOP Seeks 'Decimation of Black Political Power'

On Saturday's The Weekend, MS NOW displayed overt hypocrisy by having on House Minority Whip and Congresswoman Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) to complain about Southern Republicans cutting Democrat-leaning seats when her own home state has shut out Republicans from all its congressional districts since the 1990s. You currently can't find a Republican seat in any of the New England states. 

Co-host Jonathan Capehart began the 9:00 a.m. hour by promoting the liberal narrative that Republicans are seeking to "dilute black voting power."

But we begin this hour with large crowds expected in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, and in other cities across the country as Americans mobilize against the erosion of voting rights. The Supreme Court's ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act has cleared the way for a new congressional map in Alabama that would eliminate one of the state's two majority black districts before this year's midterms.

He then invoked the civil rights movement. After playing clips of civil rights icons John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr., the MS NOW host brought on board Congresswoman Clark. After Capehart asked her what Democrats would do to "preserve the right to vote," the Massachusetts Democrat spouted platitudes about fighting for what the American people want, and concluded:

And what we are seeing is the decimation of black political power and brown political power in order to keep power for those who have no interest in helping the American people have opportunity in this economy. And that is why, despite all of this, we will win in November.

As Daniels followed up, he hinted at the argument that district lines in red states should be rigged so that Democrats are handed a minimum number of seats:

I don't know that the American people are united in that everybody in the country should have an equal right to vote. We see what Republicans are doing -- they aren't doing it because, you know, they -- they believe that they're doing the exact opposite of what some of those voters might want. So when they have been working on this for decades, right, for a very long time, and Democrats -- people who want voters who have access to voting for people that they want to represent them -- they want specifics. So when you say "every tool," what are those tools?

In her response, Clark hypocritically complained that the state Supreme Court in Virginia blocked an effort by Democrats to lock in 90 percent of the congressional seats for themselves in a state where only about 53 percent of the population typically votes Democrat.

In his second follow-up and final question of the segment, Daniels brought up the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision finding that one of the black majority districts in Louisiana had been illegally drawn as he pushed for Democrats to undermine the ruling:

Is there a bill like -- it's been a like a week and a half, two weeks since Callais decision came down? Has there been a bill introduced? Is there a bill that's going to be introduced next week? Is there a lawsuit that you guys are working behind the scenes on? I guess that's -- those are the kinds of specifics I'm looking for, because it's been two weeks since Callais.

It stands out like a sore thumb that Congresswoman Clark's own state has long provided no congressional representation for Republicans. If MS NOW believes an "equal right to vote" means more equity in redistricting, Massachusetts could draw a Republican district if they wanted to -- or the Democrats there could even draw a less ridiculous-looking map that was still all Democrats. 

No one in the media has ever demanded that the state's Democrats gerrymander a district so that the 35 percent of the state's voters who typically vote Republican have someone they agree with representing them.

Transcript follows:

MS NOW's The Weekend

May 16, 2026

9:01 a.m. Eastern

JONATHAN CAPEHART: But we begin this hour with large crowds expected in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, and in other cities across the country as Americans mobilize against the erosion of voting rights. The Supreme Court's ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act has cleared the way for a new congressional map in Alabama that would eliminate one of the state's two majority black districts before this year's midterms.

Alabama is just one of several Republican-led southern states that are seeking to redraw their maps in a way that would dilute black voting power. In just an hour, demonstrations will take place at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where activists and faith leaders will gather in prayer, solidarity and remembrance of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches and Bloody Sunday, which you are looking at on archival footage -- you're looking at on your screen right there -- when state troopers and local law enforcement violently attacked peaceful marchers, a defining moment that paved the way for the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Here's how civil rights leaders John Lewis and Martin Luther King Jr. described their mission at the time.

(...)

Joining us now from Montgomery, Alabama, the House Minority Whip, Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Whip Clark, thank you very much for coming to The Weekend. There's a lot of concern, consternation, anger, which I'm sure you're going to see there in Montgomery, Alabama, over what the Supreme Court has done to the Voting Rights -- to the Voting Rights Act. And a lot of people are going to be wondering, "What are you" -- meaning Democrats -- "What are you going to do to preserve the right to vote and to push back against what the Supreme Court has done?"

(...)

CONGRESSWOMAN KATHERINE CLARK (D-HOUSE MINORITY WHIP): ... but Democrats are united with the American people, and here is what we're going to do. We are going to use every single tool we have, whether that is legislation, whether that is going to the courts. But our most powerful tool is the American people, and the American people are united in that they want a country that protects that core right to vote because they understand without that right, we cannot create a fair and just economy.

So we are going to continue to fight alongside shoulder to shoulder with the working people of this country who know they are working so hard and not getting ahead. And what we are seeing is the decimation of black political power and brown political power in order to keep power for those who have no interest in helping the American people have opportunity in this economy. And that is why, despite all of this, we will win in November.

EUGENE DANIELS: Congresswoman, I want to -- I was as you were talking, I was writing down some things you said. You said that John Lewis told you all to be bold, you said that you guys were ready to use every tool, and you said that the American people are united to -- in protecting the right to vote. I don't know that the American people are united in that everybody in the country should have an equal right to vote.

We see what Republicans are doing -- they aren't doing it because, you know, they -- they believe that they're doing the exact opposite of what some of those voters might want. So when they have been working on this for decades, right, for a very long time, and Democrats -- people who want voters who have access to voting for people that they want to represent them -- they want specifics. So when you say "every tool," what are those tools?

CLARK: So this -- this is how it is going to work. And this is the moment that we're in. When I say every tool, we are going to use every power that we have in Congress to bring legislation to advance it. We know we're in the minority, but we are going to continue to find those opportunities to move forward. We are going to litigate. We also are clear eyed about what we just saw from the supreme court, from the Supreme Court of Virginia, that they overturned the will of the people.

So we are not being naive about the forces and the enemies of democracy, but this is how we win, and this is how we get to a place where we can put forward, into law, signed into law the protections and restore the Voting Rights Act. That is, by connecting people with where they are.

And what people are telling us in this country is they are not making it. And when they see a government that is taking away their health care, that is taking away food programs and veterans benefits, you bet they're mad. And they know what this is. They know that taking away this vote, this suppression and disenfranchisement is directly linked to taking away their economic opportunity.

DANIELS: And, congresswoman, congresswoman. Excuse me. Is there a bill like -- it's been a like a week and a half, two weeks since Callais decision came down? Has there been a bill introduced? Is there a bill that's going to be introduced next week? Is there a lawsuit that you guys are working behind the scenes on? I guess that's -- those are the kinds of specifics I'm looking for, because it's been two weeks since Callais.