Comedian and political commentator Bill Maher said the battle over congressional redistricting has escalated dramatically following recent court decisions and aggressive moves by Republican-led states to redraw political maps.
During a discussion about the changing political landscape ahead of upcoming elections, Maher argued that Republicans are gaining a major advantage through redistricting efforts while Democrats struggle to respond effectively.
“It seemed only a few weeks ago, maybe months ago, that would be impossible for the Democrats to lose this election. No way,” Maher said.
“Well, headline today, way.”
Maher claimed the current political fight over congressional districts has intensified beyond previous battles over redistricting.
“There is a way, and it’s because of what they do when they don’t win, they cheat,” Maher said.
“So this is the big story today, gerrymandering. This has gone nuclear, and Republicans are winning the gerrymander war.”
Maher said the conflict accelerated after President Trump encouraged Republicans in Texas to redraw congressional maps in ways that could benefit the GOP.
“We talked about it last week, but a lot has changed since then,” Maher said.
“As you know, it started with Texas, your state, Trump said, gerrymander Texas.”
According to Maher, Texas Republicans were able to gain several additional congressional seats through the redistricting effort.
“Okay, so they got like, four or five new seats in Texas,” Maher said.
Maher said California Democrats responded by pursuing their own redistricting changes.
“California responded and said, Okay, we’re going to do the same thing,” Maher said.
“All right. So now we’re, this is a terrible road to go down, but at least we’re even okay.”
Maher then pointed to a recent Supreme Court ruling involving the Voting Rights Act, arguing the decision significantly altered the political landscape in multiple states.
“Now the Supreme Court ruled last week on the Voting Rights Act,” Maher said.
“Everything is different.”
According to Maher, multiple states have already implemented new district maps, while several others are preparing additional changes that could strengthen Republican representation.
“Now, eight states have new maps now, and five more are planning to Texas, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina,” Maher said.
Maher argued the changes are reducing the political influence of districts where minority voters previously elected candidates of their choice.
“They’re all now more Republican than these states that had districts that minorities were electing candidates from,” Maher said.
He also said Democrats suffered a setback in Virginia after state-level court decisions blocked changes favored by Democrats.
“Virginia, did it on the Democratic side, and the Supreme Court in the state said they can’t,” Maher said. “So that’s a big loss for the Democrats. They’re not going to get that to even the score.”
Maher specifically highlighted Tennessee’s congressional map, focusing on changes involving Memphis.
“And Tennessee, now show the map of the Tennessee, This is really what’s going on here,” Maher said.
Maher argued that the state divided Memphis across multiple districts in ways that weakened the voting power of black residents.
“Look at this. They’ve taken Memphis, a majority black city, and they moved into three different districts to dilute the vote in,” Maher said.
WATCH:
The comments come as redistricting battles intensify nationwide following recent court decisions and population shifts reflected in updated census data.
Both Republican and Democrat-led states have pursued map changes aimed at strengthening their positions in future congressional elections, while legal challenges over the new districts continue moving through courts across the country.