Outlets owned by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch are attacking Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas for calling out President Donald Trump’s push to gerrymander her home state and deliver more congressional seats to the GOP.
On Thursday, Murdoch’s New York Post—which has a history of publishing bigoted and inaccurate stories—published a story whining that “Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett” is a “no-show boss from hell,” sourced by anonymous purported staffers and aides.
Then on Friday, Fox News—also owned by Murdoch—picked up the story on “Fox & Friends,” also known as Trump’s favorite show on the network, as well as on the afternoon program “The Faulkner Focus.”
“Fox & Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones claimed the story rang true for him.
“What piece of legislation can you say she has been successful on?” he complained.
Crockett has been in Congress since 2023—with Republicans in the majority throughout her tenure—and she’s been attached to at least 10 bills that have become law in that time.
The real reason for the right-wing media pile-on is that Crockett is pushing against Trump’s gerrymandering. Texas Republicans are trying to manipulate the borders of congressional districts to give the party more power, drawing districts meant to elect GOP candidates while squeezing out Democrats.
Related | Why is the right obsessed with attacking Rep. Jasmine Crockett?
During a hearing last Friday, Crockett said that the new borders had been drawn with the intent to “divide, distract, and depress,” noting that they were discriminatory in how they intentionally minimized the votes of racial minorities.
Back in July, Crockett said that the maps were evidence of Republicans trying to “embrace an agenda of white supremacy,” and that Trump was acting as a “Temu Hitler,” referring to the discount online outlet.
And on Friday, Crockett was part of the House Oversight Committee Democrats who demanded information from the FBI for purportedly using agency resources to go after Texas legislators who fled the state to block the redistricting process.
“These reports suggest that the FBI is diverting federal law enforcement away from fighting terrorism, drug trafficking, and other federal crimes to instead harass and target Texans’ duly elected representatives, and thus raise urgent questions about the legal basis, scale, and appropriateness of federal law enforcement involvement in a state-level political matter,” the Democrats wrote in a letter.
The right has had an obsession with attacking Crockett, one of the most prominent Black women in U.S. politics at the moment.
She has been unabashedly progressive and unafraid to take on the right’s most notable figures, varying from Trump to Elon Musk to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Her advocacy has even led to attempts at intimidation from Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said in March that Crockett “needs to tread very carefully.”
Most recently, Trump argued that she has a “low IQ” for mocking him—an insult he has repeatedly used against women of color.
Still, there are no signs that Crockett intends to back down.
“Newsflash, Wannabe Dictator: I don’t care how many times you shake the Etch A Sketch trying to redraw these lines. I’m not disappearing, I’ll be back, still on your behind every step of the way,” she wrote on Bluesky Friday.
“We’ve already been over this,” she continued. “I’ve got the degrees, the credentials, and the receipts. If you’re looking for ‘low IQ,’ try looking in the mirror—or at your own Cabinet.”