After Virginia Court Loss, PBS Asks 'Are Republicans Rigging The System?'

Starting with Brooks, Nawaz quoted a recent Newsom social media post, “He listed states that now have new Republican-leaning maps, pointing out there were no votes here in Tennessee, in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas. He ends with this: ‘Virginia's voter-approved maps are thrown out. MAGA has rigged the system.’ David what do you make of that? Are Republicans rigging the system?” PBS host Amna Nawaz reacts to the Virginia Supreme Court by quoting Gavin Newsom, He ends with this: 'Virginia's voter-approved maps are thrown out. MAGA has rigged the system.' David [Brooks] what do you make of that? Are Republicans rigging the system? Brooks replied by pic.twitter.com/SpbwwO0X2Q — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 9, 2026 Brooks’s response was to basically argue that everyone is terrible and has been for a while, “Well, he's got a lot of company, I would say. You know, this is a classic case of how democracy decays. People have always been doing gerrymandering. It started getting worse in the 2010s, 2020s, when you had states like North Carolina, Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. These had totally rigged maps.” However, Brooks also argued that President Trump made it worse, “But the inhibition—and they were Democrat and Republican. The inhibition was, you only did it on the census, did it once every 10 years. So there was some constraint. Trump blew through that restraint. And now you can redistrict whenever the hell you want to. And that's what Texas did. That's what Gavin Newsom did.” After praising Indiana for not redistricting, he lamented that “we are stuck in a pseudo-democracy, where voters, when voting for House candidates, do not in most cases have the actual power to throw out a party that's doing badly. And so that democratic check is more or less gone.” After predicting near 50-50 Houses and increased polarization for the foreseeable future, Brooks offered up his solution, “And so this is just how democracy ends. And what we need—Ruth, my constitutional lawyer, will tell us how to do this. We need some sort of constitutional amendment, so this is taken out of the democratic process. Like the Federal Reserve, let somebody else do it. Let Jerome Powell come in and redistrict. But we can't live with this system.” Marcus replied by joking, “I thought I was going to be the gloomy one here, but I’ve been outdone.” She also lamented that “This was a terrible week for democracy. And I'm just going to add a few points to everything that David said, which I agree with.” Ruth Marcus, by contrast, says everything is Republicans'/Trump's fault, Nobody should feel good about what Virginia did. Nobody should feel good about what California did. But Texas went first. Texas went first, at the urging of Donald Trump. And we have a situation -- and it's pic.twitter.com/DGHI7v25y4 — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 9, 2026 While Brooks at least mentioned blue state gerrymanders existed before Trump came along, Marcus was desperate to insist otherwise. After pointing out that several Indiana lawmakers lost their primaries for doing what Brooks praised and predicting Virginia Democrats’ appeal will go nowhere, she claimed: And so we are stuck in this terrible cycle. Nobody should feel good about what Virginia did. Nobody should feel good about what California did. But Texas went first. Texas went first, at the urging of Donald Trump. And we have a situation—and it's crazy to ask Democratic states, which have tried to get the partisanship out of districting, to just sit on their hands while the system is being rigged by the other side. She added, “We have now unleashed this never-ending and constant now, as you say, because we don't wait for a new census cycle of retribution, and not just retribution, but assault on democracy, because the fundamental point of democracy is that voters get to decide who represents them. No longer.” As bad as Nawaz’s question was, neither Brooks nor Marcus actually addressed the substance of the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling. That Texas did a similar thing is irrelevant because Texas has a different state constitution. Virginia Democrats drew a lopsided map in a way that violated theirs and then dishonestly presented it to voters as an attempt to “restore fairness.” Here is a transcript for the May 8 show: PBS News Hour 5/8/2026 7:40 PM ET AMNA NAWAZ: So, the Virginia Supreme Court striking down that map is a huge blow to Democrats. Virginia Democrats are now saying they will appeal. But I want to put to you what Governor Gavin Newsom of California, where they did change the map to benefit Democrats after voters backed the move, posted this. He listed states that now have new Republican-leaning maps, pointing out there were no votes here in Tennessee, in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas. He ends with this: Virginia's voter-approved maps are thrown out. MAGA has rigged the system. David what do you make of that? Are Republicans rigging the system? DAVID BROOKS: Well, he's got a lot of company, I would say. You know, this is a classic case of how democracy decays. People have always been doing gerrymandering. It started getting worse in the 2010s, 2020s, when you had states like North Carolina, Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. These had totally rigged maps. But the inhibition—and they were Democrat and Republican. The inhibition was, you only did it on the census, did it once every 10 years. So there was some constraint. Trump blew through that restraint. And now you can redistrict whenever the hell you want to. And that's what Texas did. That's what Gavin Newsom did. Only honorable Indiana has restrained, but most of the others are doing it. And now we are stuck in a pseudo-democracy, where voters, when voting for House candidates, do not in most cases have the actual power to throw out a party that's doing badly. And so that democratic check is more or less gone. There are very few swing seats. So an election is not going to swing very far either way. And we're probably locked in at least for the near future with a 50/50 House, whoever happens to win control. And that itself is self-polarizing, because the parties just stay unified and never cross lines when they got 51 percent or 49 percent. And so this is just how democracy ends. And what we need—Ruth, my constitutional lawyer, will tell us how to do this. We need some sort of constitutional amendment, so this is taken out of the democratic process. Like the Federal Reserve, let somebody else do it. Let Jerome Powell come in and redistrict. But we can't live with this system. NAWAZ: Ruth, how democracy ends. RUTH MARCUS: I thought I was going to be the gloomy one here, but I’ve been outdone. This was a terrible week for democracy. And I'm just going to add a few points to everything that David said, which I agree with. Number one, you mentioned Indiana. Indiana was the only state that—where Republicans stood up to the pressure to redistrict and redistrict in the middle of the cycle. What happened in Indiana this week? Donald Trump financed and fueled the effort to throw the lawmakers, Republican lawmakers, who bravely stood up. They lost their legislative seats. You said that Virginia is going to appeal. Good luck with that. This is the Virginia Supreme Court interpreting the Virginia Constitution. They might find some way to get into federal court, but they're not going to get out of it successfully. And so we are stuck in this terrible cycle. Nobody should feel good about what Virginia did. Nobody should feel good about what California did. But Texas went first. Texas went first, at the urging of Donald Trump. And we have a situation— and it's crazy to ask Democratic states, which have tried to get the partisanship out of districting, to just sit on their hands while the system is being rigged by the other side. We have now unleashed this never-ending and constant now, as you say, because we don't wait for a new census cycle of retribution, and not just retribution, but assault on democracy, because the fundamental point of democracy is that voters get to decide who represents them. No longer. Alex Christy Sat, 05/09/2026 - 09:40 Marketing Timing Regular Search Engine Title After Virginia Court Loss, PBS Asks 'Are Republicans Rigging The System?' CNS Commentary Off