The animosity between the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump and the state of California continues to escalate, but with Texas now being thrown into the mix.
On July 10, an interview with California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom was shared on social media.
In it, Newsom called out Texas MAGA Republican Governor Greg Abbott for using the Independence Day flooding deaths in his state to sneak in voting redistricting while everyone's attention was, rightfully, on the 138 victims.
The post was captioned:
"Texas is using a special session about emergency disaster aid to redistrict their state and cheat their way into more Congressional seats."
"These guys have no shame."
"[California] is watching -- and you can bet we won't stand idly by."
In the interview, Newsom said:
"These guys are playing by a totally different set of rules. And here I am in California, trying to raise the bar of — sort of bipartisanship."
"Years and years ago we did independent redistricting, in a state that, I assure you with two-thirds majorities in the legislature, could gerrymander like no other state, and we’ve been playing fair, but I saw what [Abbott] just did today, made me question that entire program."
Newsom stated:
"I mean, these guys are going to do everything in their power to maintain their power…If we don’t take back the House of Representatives, I don’t want to be alarmist, I don’t want to say game over, that would be one of the most profound moments, I think, in modern history of this country."
Newsom wasn't alone in his accusation of Texas Republicans' gerrymandering.
A form of voter suppression, gerrymandering is the deliberate act of manipulating the boundaries of a voting district to favor one party or social class over others.
On Wednesday, never Trumper-turned-MAGA minion-turned-Republican Vice President JD Vance decided to poke the bear—pun intended.
Vance posted:
"The gerrymander in California is outrageous. Of their 52 congressional districts, 9 of them are Republican. That means 17 percent of their delegation is Republican when Republicans regularly win 40 percent of the vote in that state."
"How can this possibly be allowed?"
The direct response to Vance was quick and colorful.
@An_Enemy_Within/X
But Governor Newsom's response effectively shut down Vance's argument.
Newsom shared a map labeled "Most Gerrymandered States 2025." The data and map were from World Population Review. It was published by Newsweek in June 2024.
Those 12 states are:
Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Utah, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina.
According to World Population Review, 11 of the 12 states were gerrymandered to favor Republicans. Every accusation is a confession, right JD?
Vance is from Ohio.
Vance's boss also stated on July 15 that he asked Texas to redraw their map so Republicans could pick up five seats in the House of Representatives.
On July 30, the same day Vance attacked California, Texas' Trump-appeasing map was released, eliminating five Democratic districts.
The Texas Legislature, meaning whatever party is in control, draws its own district lines. California has been using a bipartisan citizen redistricting commission since 2010.
The California commission has 14 members: five Republicans, five Democrats and four unaffiliated with either of the two major political parties.
Both Texas and California use U.S. Census data.
