In yet another infuriating betrayal coming as President Trump tries to solidify Republican control over as many of the House districts in red states as possible before the 2026 midterms, RINO United States Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul again betrayed the president and MAGA base by doing his best to discredit the redistricting process.
As background, the president and his allies have been trying to push the deep red state of Indiana into redistricting, but its RINO state senate refused to do so and instead shot down a major redistricting bill that would have handed two House seats to the Republicans, a major win in what is sure to be a close House race.
Rand Paul commented on the situation when speaking to NBC’s Kristen Welker on her “Meet the Press” show. That came when she asked, “On domestic policy and redistricting, President Trump is threatening the primary and all of the Indiana lawmakers who voted against his redistricting plan and the new map that would have benefited Republicans. Do you support Republicans trying to redraw maps mid-decade?”
Responding, Rand Paul didn’t foist all the blame on Trump, but did do what he could to show that he thinks Republicans are partly to blame here, saying, “You know, it’s this escalation on both sides. Both sides are doing it, and so is one side going to sit quietly and not do it? You can argue who started it. But I do think this, and this is a negative aspect of both parties doing this.”
Then, taking the opportunity to claim that Democrats should have more House seats in Kentucky and Texas, the weak-kneed senator said, “I think it will lead to more civil tension and possibly more violence in our country. Because think about it, if 35% of Texas is Democrat, solidly Democrat, and they have zero representation or like my state, we are a very Republican state, we have one Democrat area in Louisville, and we have a Democrat congressman. We could carve up Louisville and get rid of the one congressman, but how does that make Democrats feel?”
Still not done, he said it is bad for Democrats to not have more representatives, telling Welker, in what seemed like the epitome of a RINO refusing to win, “I think it makes them feel like they’re not represented. So, I don’t know, I think it’s bad, but it’s really not one party or the other doing it, it’s both parties doing it since the beginning of time.”
The senator then added, “But in general, when it becomes so extreme, like if California has no Republican representatives after this is done, or has one left, I think that makes people so dissatisfied, they think, well, the electoral process isn’t working anymore, maybe we have to resort to other means. I think it could happen to both sides.”
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Welker, somewhat surprised at the response, asked him if he really thought that changing House districts would lead to an outbreak of violence. She asked, “I have to follow up because what you’re saying is significant. You are concerned that redistricting could lead to more political violence?”
He told her, “I am concerned that if there are no representatives, like no Republican representatives in California or no Democrats in Texas, that it would be so thoroughly one-sided that people will feel like their vote isn’t counting. So I think it’s a mistake.” He then added, “I think there is the potential, if people feel they have no representation and are disenfranchised, that it can lead and might lead to violence in our country.”
Watch him here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video