President Donald Trump appears to be trying to rig the 2026 primary election, according to one Democratic lawmaker.
Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) made the comments on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation” with Al Sharpton on Saturday. The conversation occurred at a time when numerous states led by both Democratic and Republican legislatures are considering whether to redraw their electoral maps, a process known as mid-cycle redistricting.
“Congressman, how bad of a crisis is this?” Shaprton asked.
“[Trump] is trying to rig the next election to make sure he can keep a Republican majority in the House of Representatives,” Veasey said. “That is what this is all about.”
Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced state lawmakers would be debating redistricting measures during a special legislative session. The announcement came after the devastating floods in Texas’s hill country that killed more than 130 people and displaced hundreds more.
Texas said its redistricting efforts were included in the special session because they received a memo from Trump’s Justice Department saying the state had four illegally drawn districts. Coincidentally, all four districts are represented by Democratic lawmakers.
Other states, such as Florida, California, and New York, have also announced that they would consider undertaking mid-cycle redistricting if Texas follows through on redrawing its maps.
Veasey said the memo “looks like someone in the 8th Grade put it together.”
“Just a few months ago, Republicans said they drew these districts with race blindness in mind,” Veasey said. Now, they’re doing this as a power grab.”