The Al Franken Podcast Ari Berman on the GOP’s Gerrymandering Plot
Aug 17, 2025
49:20
With Donald Trump and the Republican Party low in the polls, Texas is resorting to one of their favorite ways to win voters: cheating. They’ve drawn new maps to implement unprecedented gerrymandering, taking away five Democratic-held seats - all done at Trump’s insistence, of course.
We're joined by Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, to walk us through Texas Governor Abbott’s scheme. Democrats are attempting to fight back in Texas and across the country… even if it is a fight they are likely to lose.
We discuss how the Supreme Court continues to erode voting rights and how Chief Justice John Roberts is NOT the moderate that he'd like us to think that he is.
If history is any indication, Democrats SHOULD have a successful midterm election. But history may not be enough to overcome this gerrymandering lollapalooza and the attacks on voting rights.
READ Ari's work in Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/author/ari-berman/
We're joined by Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, to walk us through Texas Governor Abbott’s scheme. Democrats are attempting to fight back in Texas and across the country… even if it is a fight they are likely to lose.
We discuss how the Supreme Court continues to erode voting rights and how Chief Justice John Roberts is NOT the moderate that he'd like us to think that he is.
If history is any indication, Democrats SHOULD have a successful midterm election. But history may not be enough to overcome this gerrymandering lollapalooza and the attacks on voting rights.
READ Ari's work in Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/author/ari-berman/