REVOLT: Trump dealt DEVASTATING BLOW by his OWN party

0:00 We have a major surprise update here

0:02 as map redrawing explodes throughout the US, but especially in the South.

0:06 The South Carolina state Senate has voted against rejourning next week

0:10 for another special legislative session to redraw the maps ahead of midterms.

0:13 That vote was 29 to 17.

0:16 That move being pushed by Donald Trump

0:18 would have eliminated the state's only Democratic

0:20 district currently occupied by Jim Klyurn in a seat that he's held since 1993.

0:25 Now, according to Democracy Docket,

0:27 with South Carolina's June 9th primary election quickly approaching,

0:31 the Senate decided attempting to redraw the state's

0:33 congressional map after more than 8,000 absentee

0:36 ballots had been sent out to military

0:37 and overseas voters would throw the election into chaos.

0:41 Now, this is an important point because while the South

0:43 Carolina State Senate recognized that redrawing the state's congressional map,

0:47 while ballots were already on their way to South Carolinians,

0:51 that's apparently not too much of a concern for the United States Supreme Court,

0:54 which ruled in the Louisiana map redraw case,

0:57 that even though 104,000 Louisiana voters had already voted early,

1:02 that they were so okay with interfering in that ongoing election that they even

1:06 waved the usual 32-day waiting period

1:08 for their ruling in Calala to be implemented.

1:11 just because they were that eager to over black voters in that state.

1:16 And look, that would be disqualifying enough on its own for the Supreme Court.

1:19 But it's even more egregious given the fact

1:21 that this is the same Supreme Court that ruled not

1:24 once but twice in just the last few years

1:27 that no changes can be made near an election.

1:30 Here's Mark Elias explaining that point on a recent episode of Democracy Watch.

1:35 Let's just take Alabama.

1:36 Okay.

1:37 So, as you say, in 2022, my law firm goes to court.

1:40 We win a case on behalf of black uh voters in Alabama.

1:44 Uh that takes place on January uh 27th.

1:47 And the court says, "Okay, can't use the illegal unconstitutional map because

1:52 it only has one black opportunity district.

1:55 State of Alabama, we we're going to oppose a new map for for for 2022." Okay?

2:01 They the state of Alabama runs the Supreme Court.

2:03 And the Supreme Court says, "You know what?

2:06 Geez, it's already the first week of February."

2:09 And the elections are coming up in May.

2:12 So, it's way too close to that election to start

2:15 with a new map because it will cause chaos and confusion.

2:19 I mean, the voters won't know which districts they are in.

2:22 The election officials have to administer this.

2:25 Uh the candidates will have to run.

2:27 Uh and and all of that is, you know, is way too too complicated.

2:32 I mean, specifically, the Supreme Court said that quote,

2:34 "Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead

2:37 to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates,

2:41 political parties, and voters,

2:43 among others." The net effect of that was that black

2:46 Alamians voted under illegal and unconstitutional maps in the 2022 election.

2:53 Okay?

2:54 They were deprived their constitutional rights.

2:56 They were deprived their voting rights uh under federal law.

3:00 And you know, a lot of us were very upset about it at the time,

3:04 but we filed that away.

3:05 That that's the rule that in Alabama, you know,

3:08 by the time you get to early February, it's too late.

3:10 Okay.

3:11 Purcell doctrine says it's too late.

3:13 So now here we are in 2026 and the Supreme Court

3:16 decides a case as you point out in a different state,

3:19 Louisiana, not in Alabama, Louisiana.

3:22 And the state of Alabama runs to the US Supreme Court and says, "Oh, okay.

3:28 the maps that you that we are

3:30 operating under with two black opportunity districts.

3:33 We don't want to do that anymore.

3:34 We want to be able to use a different map.

3:37 Go back to an earlier map that we had and strip black voters

3:41 of one of the two districts that they can elect their candidates of choice.

3:44 And as you say, we are literally in the midst of an election.

3:48 I mean, candidates, they've they've already been campaigning.

3:52 Parties, they they've already been spending money.

3:55 voters like I mean the election day is in a couple of weeks

3:59 election officials all the materials have been

4:01 printed all the districts have lines have

4:03 been drawn the polling places have been set out I mean we are literally

4:06 on the eve of the of election day not four months out right we're

4:11 not in February we're in May and now you know the conservatives on the Supreme

4:15 Court are like well of course we need to implement this immediately because

4:18 this is because these are otherwise unconstitutional

4:21 maps well what they're really saying is

4:23 that if black voters are being deprived of their rights, then they can wait.

4:29 But if white voters,

4:31 white voters are deprived of what the Supreme Court says are their rights,

4:35 then that has to be remedied immediately.

4:37 And so whether you look at it through the prism

4:38 of race or you look at through the prism of party,

4:40 which obviously is very overlapping in this case,

4:43 that is the reality of what this decision says.

4:46 And as a litigator, like it's a challenge.

4:49 I mean, I'll be honest with you.

4:50 It is not an easy situation to know how to navigate the federal

4:56 courts when there is one rule that seems to apply when it's Democrats when,

5:03 you know, we're probably in the Supreme Court's telling.

5:06 Anything that gets changed now for for for November is probably too

5:09 late if if it's me and Democrats

5:12 who are saying that something's unconstitutional.

5:14 Whereas I suspect the Republican party, the my Republican lawyer counterparts,

5:20 they they wind up with a problem

5:21 with the way the election is being conducted in October.

5:23 Not too late.

5:24 I mean, it's just not tenable.

5:26 Now, that said, Brian, I'm not going to give up.

5:28 No one can give up.

5:29 We can't let the courts off the hook.

5:31 We cannot We have to keep litigating because we

5:33 can win cases even in the face of this.

5:36 But it is it is impossible to reconcile these standards.

5:40 Now, if you'd like to see more episodes

5:41 of Democracy Watch with me and Mark Elias,

5:43 please make sure to subscribe to this channel.

5:46 But the crux of what Mark was saying is this.

5:48 The Supreme Court will bend over backwards

5:51 to ensure that even when a jerrymandered map

5:53 is ruled illegal and even when done so 4 months in advance of a primary,

5:57 they are so committed to protecting

5:59 the sanctity of elections and not doing anything

6:02 that might even remotely cause confusion

6:04 that they'll allow overtly unconstitutional maps to stand.

6:08 But that's only when the impacted parties are black voters.

6:11 Because when the same thing happens with white voters,

6:14 then the Supreme Court takes an entirely different stance.

6:17 In that case, the Supreme Court does not give a flying how many days there are

6:21 before an election or even if a 100,000

6:24 voters have already cast ballots in an ongoing election,

6:27 they will stop it and allow maps to re

6:29 be redrawn because doing so benefits white voters.

6:32 And at the end of the day, that is this Supreme Court's priority.

6:36 Just like the Republican party more broadly,

6:38 they are there to undermine black and brown

6:40 Americans voting rights while simultaneously helping white conservatives,

6:43 even if it means they will defy their own stated principles.

6:47 If these people were capable of shame,

6:49 it would be impossible for these justices to show their faces.

6:52 But they're not.

6:54 With that said, going back to South Carolina,

6:56 we take the wins wherever we can get them.

6:58 It is objectively good news that South

7:00 Carolina state senate voted against this effort.

7:03 But let's be clear, if it didn't happen now, it's going to happen in 2028.

7:08 Meaning, this isn't a permanent victory.

7:10 It is a crisis temporarily averted.

7:12 And importantly, that doesn't change our job here,

7:15 which needs to be this recognizing that Republicans will at some

7:19 point imminently gerrymander all of their maps where they have control.

7:24 Democrats in New Jersey, New York,

7:26 Maryland, Colorado, Illinois, Washington, Oregon,

7:29 and on and on, all need to start moving right now,

7:33 today, to redraw their own maps.

7:35 And look, I get it.

7:36 It's not good government.

7:37 You know what?

7:38 If we lean on good government solutions,

7:40 we are going to good government ourselves into obscurity.

7:43 We need to be aggressive, creative,

7:45 and ruthless because that's the only way that we emerge from this thing.

7:48 That is the only way to contend with an opponent that is themselves aggressive,

7:52 creative, and ruthless.

7:53 We didn't ask for this redistricting war,

7:55 but we're sure as hell not going to roll over and play dead.

7:59 So now is the time to fight back.

8:01 And if any Democrats don't have the stomach, make way for those who do.

8:05 Because we gain nothing by sticking our heads

8:07 in the sand and pretending that none of this is happening.

8:10 The only way we actually emerge from this thing

8:12 is if we fight hard and we fight to win.

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