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US POLITICS REP. JASMINE CROCKETT Redistricting Is About White Supremacy, Not Democracy PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si7TMPw6og0
Rep. Jasmine Crockett: Redistricting Is About White Supremacy, Not Democracy Rep. Jasmine Crockett 346K subscribers ... 124,862 views ... 6.4K likes Aug 18, 2025 #JasmineCrockett #Redistricting #TexasPolitics Rep. Jasmine Crockett isn’t mincing words: Texas Republicans’ redistricting push isn’t about representation or fairness—it’s about white supremacy and silencing Black and Brown voters. In this CBS “Eye on Politics” interview with Jack Fink, Crockett calls out Governor Abbott for doing Trump’s bidding, explains how Republican maps strip away seats and voices, and sets the record straight on what’s really at stake for Texans. Crockett makes it clear: this fight is bigger than Texas—it’s about protecting democracy itself. #JasmineCrockett #Redistricting #VotingRights #TexasPolitics #JackFink #CBSPolitics #Democracy Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Jasmine Crockett has become one of my favorite politicians. The US's political problen would not exist if competent people like Jasmine Crocket dominated the space. I have been 'watching' US politics for more than six decades ... and I am appalled. Politics has been a part of society for ever ... certainly going back to the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans of antiquity. Modern America with people like Donald Trump holding high office in the United States, one has to be concerned about what this means for the USA and the Western World. I have watched Donald Trump since his early days in Manhattan about 60 years ago. He has been 'nasty' all his life ... and has become one of the best 'con-men' ever. God help America!. A person like Trump with the power of the US President is an unimaginable threat ... and most Americans don't seem to 'get it'. This conversation about voting in Texas is pretty detailed ... and shows off the amazing competence of Jasmine Crockett She is no 'dummy' but a great force for good in a system that has been corrupted massively by Trump, the GOP and stupid Americans! Peter Burgess Transcript 0:00 Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Dallas. Thank you so much and welcome back to Eye on Politics. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. You bet. So, let's talk about this redistricting battle here in Texas that has certainly reverberated across the country. How do you see this shaking out? I think that you're going to see Texas ram it through because that's what Texas does. Um, with no input whatsoever from the members, and when I say the members, I mean even the Republican members. this map was not created by the Republicans in the House. Um, and so this is a map that was sent down from up in DC somewhere. And so I think that that map is going to pass. I think that they are overplaying their hand. I don't think that they're actually going to win five seats. I think that a number of our incumbents are able to win their seats back. Um, one of the things that they tried to do was in the southern valley, they tried to write off Vicente, they tried to write off Quayar, and they did ultimately end up getting one of those 1:00 three seats that they had been shooting for. But the reality is that um, Henry Quayar, he ended up winning that seat for reelection. Trump won that seat by seven points. So like he is a unique um, and capable candidate when it comes to that area. someone who was elected on the state level, someone who's been elected over and over on the federal level. And so, um, they're trying their best to kick him out while also making sure that they minimize the voices of Latinos. They've decided to pack more Latinos into those districts and make them more than they need to be so that they could hopefully have influence somewhere else. They are really banking on Latinos, really loving on Trump this go round. Um, I don't know that we'll be able to save anything in the DFW area. I think that Van Dy may end up being more vulnerable. Um, that's she came from a vulnerable spot before the 2021 redistricting. Um, I think with the right candidate, we may be able to take her out. She um is not as loud as 2:01 Marjorie Taylor Green, but her politics are just as bad, if not worse. Um, so I think that with the right candidate, we may be able to make that race competitive. And then down south in in the Harris County area, I it gets really murky. Um but either way, these lines are unconstitutional. We know that Texas has been found to be intentionally racially discriminatory every single time they've gone through redistricting. We were currently in litigation on the 2021 lines. And these have to be some of the most obviously um racially gerrymandered and terrible lines that I've ever seen in the state of Texas. And that is saying a lot. So, you said a lot. So, I I definitely want to ask you about everything that you mentioned. Um, first, let me go back because when you you're since you're making some predictions about congressional seats, what do you think is going to happen with uh Congresswoman Julie Johnson because, you know, she's got a decision 3:00 to make. Does she run in 32 under the new map if it's approved, which would become a Republican majority district, or does she have to challenge uh Congressman VC whose district would move solely in Dallas County? Yeah, I think, you know, I think that we will hopefully work it out about who runs where. Um, obviously both of them are now in Republican districts. No one currently resides in 30 and then I reside in 33. So I think um it is a matter of kind of us talking about what's what while also recognizing that because there is new territory, there also may be new contenders um to come in. So you know for me I'm going to get to polling because um I feel confident I can win wherever I run. I do. But ultimately I'm trying to get a pulse on the district, right? So I ended up with 200,000 additional people into 30. they are all coming from Tarant County. I 4:01 know nothing about those 200,000 people. Um whereas where I live, obviously about 200,000 of us are still um where I currently live along with a lot of the old 100 as well as a lot of the old 30 going all the way to that eastern portion getting that Pleasant Grove. Some of that that got thrown into 32. Um, so you know, it's about kind of, you know, does Mark VC fit better into 30 now because it does have some tarant or not? And does Julie just kind of fit better at running in 33 than me? And is my district going to be okay with me running and being on this fixed government income and therefore not buying a home in the newly constructed 30? Obviously, I don't have to live there under federal rules, right? But I mean, some people want somebody that lives in the district, but obviously the vast majority of this district I have represented without actually living in the portions that they've left in 30. So, if I hear you correctly, correct me 5:01 if I'm wrong, you're actually debating about whether to run in a different district than 30. I'm debating about whether or not I run I would run where they put me, which is where I live. Yeah. In 33. In 33. And was that what about the idea of just moving back into 30 again on this fixed income that I am paid uh in Congress? The idea of actually buying a new home or getting we don't we don't get enough money. I mean, I'm being honest and I know that some people may take issue with that because they talk about how much money we make and I get it. It's not that we're obviously getting minimum wage, but by the time you talk about having an I have a mortgage and I have an interest rate that is like 3%. Interest rates are not that low anymore, right? That's number one. Number two, so it's a matter of oh, do you sell your home then go somewhere else and get a higher interest rate? Like there's all these variables. And as a single woman 6:00 who has one income, who's not allowed to make outside income, there's a lot to be had there. I think I have a strong enough rapport with what is left in 30 that they trust me to be a strong advocate for these areas that I've already represented. I know nothing about this new 200,000. And so we are absolutely I'm a data driven girl. So we're going to run the numbers. Um and then obviously I want to talk to my colleagues and say what kind of makes sense so that at least hopefully two of us have the best shot at going back. I would imagine that's going to be a difficult conversation. I I imagine so too. But I I think you know this entire time I will say the three of us have been very very good and very cordial. Like we're we're not the problem. We know where the problem lies. Um, and so there may be, you know, a number of options, but I think we need to explore all the options to make sure 7:00 that hopefully we're returning those experienced members to Congress. Um, and minimizing the risk of, you know, for all I know, in this new 200,000 crop, there's five or six people that are thinking, you know, this is what I want to run in. Now, whether or not they'd be effective at getting at the other 500,000 is a whole other question. Um, but there's a lot of questions to be answered, especially if people feel like their representative needs to live in the district. That is something that I know we're kind of used to doing, especially when you talk about the state house and the state senate. So, you know, I want to be honest, open, and transparent with my constituents. Like, I if I'm running in 30, I don't live there, and I they don't pay me enough to go and buy another home. So, I'm not going to move into the district. Um, obviously I'm engaged in litigation, have been engaged in litigation since 2021. And my goal would be to reconnect the district. Um, because they did 8:00 remove all the economic engines out of my district, which is one of those red flags when we're looking at whether or not there's been a violation of the Voting Rights Act. Um, and so, you know, I live basically very close to Dallas Love Field, one of those economic engines, which is one reason I felt like, oh, you know, all will be well, besides the fact that they asked me for my address and confirmed the census block that I lived in and they completely ignored these certifications. Usually when we draw our own maps, like when we draw them for the state house, state senate, there always is a notation of where we live. And so like that where you live usually stays in. It is a very rare occasion for where you live to be thrown out. And so you're saying this was intentionally done. It was absolutely intentional. And but to your point before that the US Constitution, if I'm if I my memory serves correctly, you as members of 9:01 Congress just have to be in the state in which you serve on election day. Yep. Yeah. You you just have to be a resident of the state. That is on election day. Correct. And so I guess part of your decision-making process having that conversation with your current constituents if they if you they would mind you being out of the district. Correct. Okay. Um, you also talked about uh Latino districts and I know this was part of the 2021 lawsuit if I'm not mistaken on the maps. Republican not on my part. Not not on your part, right? But on in the other districts and so Republicans have said this time around, look, we're we're creating four Latino majority districts. One of them would be the new 33, which you are considering. Your thoughts? Um they're playing games, right? Um they also said that they created two new African-American seats. One of them would be 30. Correct. They're claiming that there were none. Um that is not the position that they have held in court. So the 10:01 benefit of being a litigant um in the current litigation is that number one, they have acknowledged that these seats are already protected. So any lack of protection has been because they've tried to make something unprotected. For instance, in Congressional District 30, the citizen voting age population of African-Americans prior to the 2021 redistricting was over 50%. When you're typically creating a new um single majority minority district, um they are looking to see if you can concisely um put together a district that is 50% or better to have the the the best protection that a district can have. All right. So when my district was initially created, that's where it was. They are the ones that took it down below 50 because it still naturally was populating that way. They took it down below 50%. Because they decided that they wanted to crack minorities in Tarant County, which is how 30 ended up 11:02 going into Tarant County in the first place. 30 was wholly contained in Dallas County. But they wanted to make sure that some of those minorities that were growing too fast, specifically in the Grand Prairie, Mansfield area, they decided, why not break them up? They broke them up into threes. They took one third, put them into my district. One third, put them into Jake El's district, and one-third they put into, I believe, Burgess's district um at the time. And so with that, um they diluted their voices. When you look at my district now, they now have decided even though it still enjoyed the protection because it's about whether or not African-Americans will still have the opportunity to choose their representation. My district still functioned that way where the African-American electorate was still able to choose their representation. So, you can fall below 50 if you've already enjoyed the protection. And that's where we were. And that's why they weren't 12:00 stressed about it because they knew it would still be protected. And that was the state's position in this litigation for the last four years in 2021. Yeah. In 2021. Now, as it relates to Mark VC's district, it was considered more of a coalition district, but to be perfectly honest, I always looked at it as a Latino opportunity district anyway because the numbers were so high. In fact, if you go back to when that district was created, Domingo Garcia was running in that race. And every time it is that Mark VC is challenged, he is challenged by a Latino. It's not like when you look at my primary where it's basically all African-Americans that are running. It is typically Latinos that come after Mark VC. Um and so it has been an opportunity district. Now whether or not Latinos are actually out voting their counterparts is a question and whether or not um Latinos are just deciding that Mark VC is the one. We know that the same can be said for 35 where um Lloyd Dogget used to represent 13:02 going from Austin to San Antonio. Lloyd Dogget is Caucasian but it was always a Latino opportunity district and they kept electing Lloyd Dogget. So it's not about who gets elected, it's about who gets to choose who is elected and that doesn't necessarily always comport with that minority that gets to do the selecting. Now, in the 33rd district, VC's new district under this map or maybe yours. We'll see. Um, it is it's more Latino, right? It's it's heavy uh Latino because I went back and I looked at the numbers. They took a lot lot of Oakliff and Pleasant Grove voting age 90 almost 292,000 Latinos, 91,000 blacks, 37,000 Asians, 150 almost 6,000 whites in that district. Um, so let let me go back and just ask you because there's obviously been a lot of back and forth between Republicans and Democrats. So who gerrymanders more? Yeah. And so the Republicans have said we're 14:01 just catching up to the other states to California, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, wherever. And uh when I talked with uh Republican State Representative Katrina Pearson uh when I asked her about this, she said Democrats have to get comfortable with the fact that minorities are trending more in Republicans favor. We saw that in 2024. You know, of the 16 counties along the border, 13 of them went and voted for Trump. So, what do you say to that? I mean, I I don't, you know, people choose their politics based on whatever reasons they choose them, right? I'm a Democrat because I don't believe in a white supremacy agenda. And I believe that the Republicans, for the most part, are pushing a white supremacy agenda when you are doing anti-Ivil rights movements when you are rolling back protections that we've always had around number one, minorities accessing the ballot box. So, here's the deal. If it is that minorities, whether they're black, Asian, or Hispanic, if they are going for Republicans, then why is it 15:01 that you continue to try to dilute their voices and don't want them to be heard? Why is it that when we look at those that have been allowed to elect their representation under this new map, you specifically are taking out Mark VC, who's been elected by, we won't even say which minority, but we know it wasn't white people. I'm going just say that. When you look at Al Green, who this new map takes out, we won't even say who elected him, but it wasn't white people. So, the reality is that it is about who gets to do the electing. But it is curious to me that we've got four black elected folk on the federal level in this state, yet somehow specifically at least two of them were targeted to be kicked out like in some way. Um, and then we know that the 18th they decided not to necessarily mess with it, which was a surprise. I mean, they obviously mess with it. Let me not say it that way. Um, they decided that they would still um afford it the protection that 16:02 they said it was due in the current litigation, but they also said that um, Congressional District 9, our green seat was protected in this current litigation. So my deal is this, like I've I've explained to the representative that this isn't about who votes for who. It is about making sure in the state that has more African-Americans than any other state that they are not left with their voices only amounting to 15th the strength of their Caucasian counterparts. It is about a state in which 39% of the state is Anglo and the highest ethnic group is actually Latinos that Anglo not go from getting two additional seats on the backs of people of color when the state grew in the census by 95% to now four new Anglo seats. So they don't want to talk about the fact that they continue to take Anglo representation up when in the last decade we only added 180,000 17:02 Anglo. Each congressional district is 766,000 people. So you tell me how that math works. You decided that you wanted the seats because people moved to this state and the people were overwhelmingly of color yet you continue to take their representation and their voices away. Now if you believe that they're going to vote for Republicans, fine. but give them their seats is all I'm asking as it relates to the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. So, this goes back, you know, to this letter that the Justice Department sent to Governor Abbott and the attorney general, as you know, and that talks about coalition districts and the government is uh the Justice Department is quoting this uh s the fifth circuit, correct? in which the fifth circuit appeals court right says state was wrong. We were wrong you know years ago uh as far as these coalition districts they quoted the Supreme Court 18:02 one of the justices Kavanaaugh I believe that said you know these coalition districts or whatever race can't be used but they only are good for so long. Um, we have seen huge growth here in the state of Texas. Um, and so I'm wondering, do you think that this is going to end up back at the Supreme Court for them to have to make another decision about this? Because I don't know about I mean the other states aren't growing like Texas. Texas is growing. And so what do you say about all that? So I absolutely believe that they're trying to get it to the Supreme Court. They are trying to hopefully create new presidents. they are consistently trying to go to the Supreme Court and have them decimate what is left of the Voting Rights Act. It is why the Alabama case is headed back or is it Louisiana? One of the two um is headed back to the Supreme Court now. And we know that this same makeup of the Supreme Court is the one that said, 'Hey, Louisiana, 30% of 19:01 your state is black folk, and you only have an opportunity for one seat to be elected by black folk. You need another one.' Same thing they said for Alabama. So what did they do? This Supreme Court said under the Voting Rights Act, you've got to have two seats. Now these are different seats than a coalition seat. But the thing is they keep misinterpreting the fifth circuit court opinion by saying that it is saying that they are illegal. It wasn't about disbanding these coalition seats. It was about whether or not the creation of them enjoys the same protections as the creation used to. That is what it was about. So what they've decided to do is disband them and hope that the court agree that yes, you can disband them because the fifth circuit never said that. The fifth circuit said we won't necessarily recognize the creation of new ones. So two more questions. I appreciate your 20:02 time as always. Um, you were in the Texas House back in 2021, the last time there was a quorum break. Yeah. And this time around, we have seen Republicans react more aggressively to try to enforce the quorum. Uh, we've seen daily fines now, $500. We've seen uh DPS going around and searching for any Democrats in Texas, putting out a tip line now uh for any sightings, saying that all those investigative costs are going to be incurred by the Democrats who left the state. We've seen this lawsuit by Governor Abbott and the attorney general against 13 uh Democrats. Um plus the lawsuit about fundraising against um former Congressman Better Orc. What do you make of all this? I think that it all comes from the top. These people are lawless. It is amazing how you can spend these types of resources going after 21:01 duly elected people who have decided that their oath meant that they would look to the constitution. But is it is it lawless when it's in the Texas Constitution that they can pretty much enforce quorum breaking or you know enforce a quorum? they can enforce a quorum but also in the constitution it says that you can break quorum that is my whole point it's enabled right I mean it's the fact that it's mentioned in the constitution obviously says that this is a tool that you can use this isn't something that they made up out of thin air this is what the constitution says and so you have people and this isn't the first cornbreak it's not the second cornbreak it's not the third cornbreak so we know that these Texans have decided that this is what they need to do to make sure that they are representing for their districts. But when you look at this administration, this administration, and I'm talking about on the federal level, consistently puts more energy into going after political opponents than say going 22:01 after people that are harming us. That is why it is so rich that they want to talk about, oh, let's go and hunt them down and let's expend all these energy uh these energies on going after duly elected members of the House. But we didn't see this energy when it came down to the Epstein files. Somehow no one was in an uproar when they decided to run away from Congress early so that they could avoid voting on the release of the Epstein files. The Epstein files that are with the FBI. So while the FBI is supposedly wasting resources going and looking for duly elected members of the Texas House, they probably could be doing what the American people asked them to do, which was to focus on the Epstein files. I promise you if I ran a poll right now and I asked the American people, which one are you more interested in seeing? The Epstein files or somehow these Texans getting back to Texas when guess what? Texans didn't ask to be redistricted. The rest of the 23:00 country didn't ask that Texas be redistricted. The president didn't run on redistricting Texas. The president is rogue and out of control. and he knows that if things keep going the way that they're going, where Republicans can't even show up and see their own constituents because their constituents are running them out of the auditoriums because of these failed terrible policies that are about to hit hard. He doesn't want accountability. Well, in America where we believe in democracy, that is what elections are for. They are for accountability. I expect if I don't do right by my district that they would vote me out. And guess what? since they are not doing right by this country and their constituents because these hits that we're about to experience, they're not just going to be rural hits. They're not just going to be urban hits. They're not just going to be Democratic, Republican, or independent. It's going to hit all of us. So long as you are not a top 1enter, your health care premiums, if you are able to have healthcare, it's going up. The cost of your food, if you are able to afford it in general, the 24:01 cost is going up. our farmers, they are at more risk than they were before because of these failed trade policies as well as so many other things. The cost of education because they want to get rid of the Department of Education and reduce the amount of funding that students are able to get. Listen, I am telling you that we are in a hair on fire situation and because he lost so badly in 2018 because he was such a terrible president for the first two years and ultimately in my opinion the entire four years. He doesn't want to endure the backlash. He doesn't want us to open the investigations to find out about his $400 million plane. He doesn't want us to find out what's going on with Maxwell and why somehow she has been given work release and relocated to this minimum uh security facility in Texas. He doesn't want us to answer the questions about his crypto and the schemes where he is enriching himself with businesses. He doesn't want that. But I got news for him. I don't believe 25:01 that people are going to be so caught up on partisanship when it comes to um the midterm. I think that there will be a lot of people that will show up, even Republicans, that at least want a check on him. Last question. US Senate race, there are rumblings that I'm hearing that, you know, maybe you would Are you considering a run for for US Senate here? We saw a poll, yes, it was by the Senate Republicans um that you were ahead in in that one poll, 35% over Colin Alred and and former Congressman Beta Oor. Is this something you're considering? For me, I got to focus on saving this district. So, that is my focus. So, that's a definite no. I am focused on saving the district. And so, no plans to run for US Senate? Not at this moment. Okay. Jasmine Crockett, Congresswoman from Dallas. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. [Music]

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