America has not been in a normal place since 2016. Prior to the advent of Trump, Republicans and Democrats participated in the back and forth swings of the political pendulum which are the norms in a democracy. Sometimes one party was in power, sometimes the other. So it has gone in this nation for 249 years. But then along came the Child in Chief and he doesn’t want to play the game by the rules, he wants to upend the board and then set fire to the table. And the GOP is happy to help him. That is the dark truth of why we are where we are. This iteration of the Repubican party is filled with either cowards who are happy to sell out the Constitution and the country if they can only stay in power, or worse yet, with people who share Trump’s authoritarian instincts and can’t make a dictatorship happen soon enough. But fear not. The speculated “gerrymandering apocalypse” looks bad on paper but it’s not magically going to appear.
Speaking with NBC’s Ryan Nobles, Wasserman explained that the GOP is holding “an edge” in the battle over redistricting after Texas began its effort to redraw the lines mere years after drawing the lines for the previous congressional districts. It’s all part of an effort to hold onto Congress amid the GOP’s lack of popularity.
President Donald Trump has encouraged Florida, Texas and Missouri to redraw their lines to tilt Congress. Democrats are calling it the GOP’s effort to cheat.
Wasserman said that it’s the “gerrymandering apocalypse we’ve all feared.”
He began with a “both sides do it” argument, though one Texas lawmaker fact-checked a Fox host for the same sentiment, noting that no Republicans voted to support a ban on gerrymandering. While Republicans like to claim Massachusetts drew unfair lines, the state’s Republican governor signed off on it.
“They’re obviously desperate to hold the majority. They know that President Trump’s approval rating is not great. The bill they passed isn’t that popular,” said Wasserman. “And so, adding insurance, and piling on sandbags to their very thin majority — the only way they can do that is by redistricting Texas, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri.”
He noted that if they do it with Florida, then they could “triple the Republican cushion.”
If California can redistrict its lines, Wasserman said that the state will take the ax to potentially five Republican lawmakers.
If both parties go as far as they can, he said that Republicans will come out ahead of Democrats.
Texas state Democrats have managed to prevent a quorum in the legislature, which stops any redistricting bills from passing. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) said that it won’t matter; he’ll continue to call as many special sessions as needed to get the maps that Trump wants.
However, if the lawmakers can make it until December, Texas won’t have time for the new lines to apply to 2026. Abbott has also claimed he will expel the Democrats from office, but doing so would require a new primary and general election be held before they can call the new session.
Make no mistake, this is going to be ugly. But Abbott can only go so far and he can’t rewrite all the laws between now and New Year’s. That said, Trump can pull a coup d’etat on the pretext of some imaginary emergency and he’s doing the test run for that right now as we speak with federal troops on the streets of Washington, D.C.
The question may become whether Trump will create some pretext to void the 2026 elections. We have no choice but to play this by ear and fight back one step at a time. But so far, the gerrymandering apocalypse is largely bluster.
If he loses power, or even looks like he will…he will fo whatever necessary to keep in power. Count on it.
Agreed, HE will do whatever it takes to stay in power. The real question is, how many of his supporters will stay on board? Will military officers refuse to carry out illegal orders, if only to save their own behinds? Will enough GOP lawmakers sense that political winds are shifting against them and finally grow a spine?
Staying in power as a dictator requires cunning and discipline, both of which Trump lacks. He no longer holds rallies to bolster the *appearance* of popularity. Even he can see the anger being directed at GOP politicians. He’s flailing, and the ragtag band of “loyalists” in his cabinet can’t save him. Imagine how THEY would be greeted if they tried to rally the base?
To be sure, he can do a lot of harm before his regime collapses. Which means the Resistance can’t let up fighting against him.
If they’re not careful, and we know they’re not, they’ll go too far and make the winning margin of their gerrymander too thin. Specially based on results in the last election when so many Latinos voted R. Do you think that that voting pattern pattern will continue now everyone has seen I.C.E. targeted racism aimed clearly at them?
Those thin winning margins will disappear in a blue landslide of backfire.
“Staying in power as a dictator requires cunning and discipline, both of which Trump lacks. ” Yet here we are with him in power. Why? He is just the (willing) ventriloquist’s dummy spouting the lines and moving in the direction of his handlers. My bet is, by Labor Day ’26, so may individual actions will have exasperated the electorate that little bonfires will have broken out all over the place the only (tearfully regretted) answer will be martial law. The coup d’etat. Le US est mort, veve le Roi!! It’s possible the Grim Reaper may visit first or the word salads will be so mushy as to require the 26th to come into play. President Vance will be less of a force than T but, depending on how far things have progressed, may still be able to declare martial law, though not assume the crown.
There are multiple reasons why Trump is back in power, but whatever “skills” he had as a politician have long since diminished. And campaigning
ing for office is far different than actually governing.
Martial law is a real possibility. But Trump, in his idiocy, will discover that declaring it is easy; maintaining it (and holding on to his MAGA base) will be a nightmare.