MARGARET BRENNAN:
00:06:44
I saw that bill. Yes. --right now that would get that would get rid of partisan gerrymandering. And so far, I've had no Republican takers. Well, as we just said, your party is supporting the partisan redistricting in places like California and Virginia as well. Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida said Democrats do not care about Black representation, they only care about Democrat representation. Here's what Congressman Wesley Hunt of Texas said when he was asked about the decision of the four Black Republicans to leave Congress. I represent a white majority district that President Trump would have won by over 20 points, and I won by 25 points the last time I ran. I'm being judged not by the color of my skin, but by the content of my character. I don't care how many Black people are here. I want the most qualified people that are here. So what do you make of the argument that you just heard there from Congressman Hunt? Yeah, he doesn't understand our American history. No one-- he's quoting the words of Dr. King. No one was more committed to a country that embraces all of us than Dr. King. But Dr. King, looking at that reality, is the one who is the moral power behind the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Our covenant as an American people is E. Pluribus Unum, out of many, one. And so this notion that representation does not matter ignores history. It ignores the facts. It's uninformed. Representation does matter. When I go to the Senate every week, I bring my story and my experience as a Black kid who grew up in public housing in Savannah. And so does that White kid who grew up in Appalachia. She brings her experience, too. And so when we create an increasing monolith, which is what I think is going to happen as a result of this decision this week, we hurt the democracy itself. And we make it harder to get at a policy-- policies that embrace all of our children and give every child a chance. Senator, we'll leave it there.
