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South Carolina Republicans defy Trump, tank redistricting, for now
Virginia Supreme Court strikes down Democrats’ redistricting map
Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares explains why the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Democratic redistricting map was a «win for the rule of law.» Miyares notes the proposed map would have drastically shifted power for Democrats, citing the court’s emphasis on adhering to the state’s constitutional amendment process.
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A handful of Republican state senators in South Carolina on Tuesday derailed an effort in the GOP-dominated legislature to redraw their state’s congressional district map which aims to erase the only Democrat-dominated U.S. House seat ahead of the midterm elections.
Five Republican state senators broke with their party and teamed up with Democrats to defeat a proposal that would have allowed the chamber to vote on redistricting after the South Carolina legislative session comes to a close later this week.
The move came hours after President Donald Trump warned on social media that he’d be «watching closely» as lawmakers met to move forward with changing their state’s map.
The setback means it will be much harder for South Carolina to join Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana, which are altering their maps to eliminate Democrat-controlled congressional districts in time for the midterms, when the GOP will be defending its razor-thin House majority. The southern states are the latest battleground in the nationwide redistricting showdown. At stake is which party will control the House during the final two years of Trump’s second term in the White House.
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The South Carolina Statehouse, in Columbia, S.C. (Getty Images)
The efforts by Republicans in the southern states come in the wake of a decision by the conservative majority on the Supreme Court to slash a key protection in the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. The justices ruled that race should not dictate the redrawing of legislative district maps.
South Carolina Republicans were trying to advance a new map that could put longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn, the only Democrat in the state’s seven-person House delegation, out of a job.
Clyburn this past week remained optimistic he can still win re-election.
«I don’t know why people think I could not get re-elected if they redistrict South Carolina,» Clyburn said in a CNN interview. «I have a district that’s about 45 percent African-American. I have no idea what the number will be after the legislature finishes, but whatever that number is, I will be running on my record and America’s promise.»
ALABAMA REPUBLICANS PLOW FORWARD ON REDISTRICTING
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks during the 2024 Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)
Trump, in a social media post Monday night, urged «South Carolina Republicans: BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS.»
«Move the U.S. House Primaries to August, leave the rest on the same schedule. Everything will be fine. GET IT DONE!» he emphasized.
Trump’s message came a week after five Indiana Republican state senators who in December helped sink congressional redistricting in the solidly red Midwestern state were ousted by Trump-backed challengers in GOP primaries.
Shane Massey, the South Carolina Senate’s Republican majority leader, argued in a floor speech that following Trump’s lead on edistricting would be against the interests of the Palmetto State.
«South Carolina has always punched above their weight,» Massey said. «Doing this will diminish that influence.»
Republican South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey speaks during a debate on redistricting on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (Jeffrey Collins/AP Photo)
But he also acknowledged that he will likely face political payback from Trump and the president’s allies.
«There are likely consequences for me, personally, taking the position that I am right now,» Massey said. «I’m comfortable with that. I may not like it, but I’m comfortable with it…My conscience is clear on this one.»
Other South Carolina Republicans had raised concerns that carving up the district represented by Clyburn could backfire on their party in the midterms.
The top four Republicans running for governor this year, Lt. Gov. Pam Evette, Attorney Gen. Alan Wilson, and Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman all criticized the lack of legislative action, with Evette describing it as «a betrayal of the people of South Carolina» and in «direct defiance» of Trump.
The current governor, Republican Henry McMaster, a top Trump ally, could still call the legislature back into special session to try and push through redistricting, but his office has so far said that scenario is unlikely.
WHAT’S ON THE LINE AS THESE STATES HOLD PRIMARIES TODAY
The GOP-dominated Tennessee legislature on Thursday quickly adopted a new map that would eliminate the only Democrat-controlled congressional district in the state, and would likely give Republicans control of all nine districts.
GOP Gov. Bill Lee quickly signed the new maps into law.
Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents the majority Black district that’s being carved up, vowed legal action.
«Trump knows he HAS TO rig the game to keep his majority in November. And the TN GOP was willing to go along with it. It’s shameful,» Cohen wrote on social media. «Next stop is the courts.»
Trump praised Tennessee Republicans in his social media post and urged GOP lawmakers in South Carolina to act «just like the Republicans of the Great State of Tennessee were last week.»
President Donald Trump has urged Republican-controlled states to redraw their congressional district maps in time for this year’s midterm elections. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
It’s back to the future in Alabama, after the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ideological ruling, cleared the way for the state to put in place a map Republicans drew up in 2023 that had been blocked by lower courts. The map would eliminate one of the state’s two blue-leaning congressional seats.
GOP Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday called for a special primary election in August in the four U.S. House districts altered by the new map.
Last week, the Supreme Court said that its decision declaring Louisiana’s map unconstitutional should go into effect immediately.
That cleared the way for the GOP-controlled state legislature to begin the process of reshaping the map, and hearings got underway on Friday.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a top Trump ally, took swift action in the immediate aftermath of the high court’s ruling, when he delayed the May 16 U.S. House primary elections in Louisiana.
Louisiana Republicans are aiming to erase one or both of the two Black-majority House seats, which are represented by Democrats.
BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed into law a new congressional district map that may create up to four more right-leaning U.S. House seats (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service)
In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed a bill by the GOP-dominated state legislature that overhauls the red-leaning state’s congressional districts, adding four more right-leaning seats by eliminating districts currently controlled by Democrats.
Republicans currently control Florida’s U.S. House delegation by a 20-8 margin.
Democrats are fighting back.
On Monday, Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to halt a Virginia state Supreme Court ruling invalidating a ballot measure that would have given their party an additional four left-leaning U.S. House seats.
Last week’s ruling in Virginia means the map used in the 2024 elections will stay in place for the 2026 ballot box showdowns. Democrats currently control the state’s U.S. House delegation by a 6-5 margin. The now overturned map could have resulted in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in the blue-leaning but competitive state.
How we got here
The battle over the maps ignited last spring when Trump, aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.
The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s fragile House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.
When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, «Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.»
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.
But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country. Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.
California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature.
That led to five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an election night press conference at a California Democratic Party office in Sacramento on Nov. 4, 2025. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Photo)
But the fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California.
Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, drew new maps as part of the president’s push.
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But in blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.
And as mentioned, Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House.
midterm elections, republicans, south carolina, democrats, house of representatives, donald trump
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Lindy Li, a former top Democratic fundraiser, believes President Joe Biden is only doing himself a disservice by promising the public another explanation of why he decided to run for re-election in 2024 despite mounting concerns about his age and cognitive performance.
In her view, Biden’s upcoming memoir, «Promise Me, America,» will only serve to reopen painful wounds that Democrats have struggled to move past since the 2024 election loss. In a way, she believes the book is a bit of a microcosm of Biden’s presidency.
«They’re thinking, ‘Why can’t you just shut the f— up?’ Prior to me leaving the party, they wanted nothing to do with this guy. It was so bad that when, finally, Biden exited on July 21, there was no goodbye party other than a staffer one in the Rose Garden. There was nothing,» Li said.
«Jill has him writing books that no one wants to read instead of fully enjoying his retirement,» Li said, referring to Jill Biden, the former first lady.
EX-DEM INSIDER REVEALS SHE WILL EXPOSE DEMOCRATS WHO COVERED UP BIDEN’S COGNITIVE DECLINE IN NEW BOOK
Former President Biden was dogged throughout his term by rumors of his purported cognitive decline. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
«Just like she had him out running for president — a presidency that no one wanted, not even Democrats — instead of enjoying his retirement. He should have been in retirement 10, 20 years ago, but they need the money.»
Biden described his upcoming book in a post to X Wednesday morning.
«It’s about the challenges we face as a nation. About the decisions I made and why I made them,» Biden said, igniting mockery on social media. «It’s about why I chose to run for reelection and why I chose to step aside.»
«The first lie of Joe Biden’s book launch: ‘I’ve written a book,’» conservative communicator Steve Guest wrote.
«Joe Biden couldn’t sign his own pardons. Now he’s ‘written’ a book, which Democrats forced him to release after the midterms so he wouldn’t be in the news to remind people how bad he was,» wrote Outkick founder Clay Travis. «Who in the world is buying this book?»
«Who do we think wrote this book,» Daily Wire editor-in-chief Brent Scher wondered.
«Did the autopen write this too,» Missouri Republican Rep. Jason Smith questioned.
Li, who is publishing a new book of her own, «Unburdened,» later this year, was privy to many of the party’s internal discussions, research and panic behind the scenes, which indicated Biden enjoyed only shaky support even among his own camp long before he ultimately dropped out of the 2024 election.
BIDEN BOOK LAUNCH BACKFIRES AS CRITICS MOCK ‘AUTOPEN’ PRESIDENT INTO OBLIVION
Lindy Li, a former Democratic fundraiser, poses for a picture with former President Joe Biden at a 2023 campaign event. (Lindy Li)
In light of what she knows, Li doubts there is a way for Biden to spin his exit that won’t do further harm to his own image, an image his campaign went to great lengths to protect.
Li recalled how the Biden campaign confiscated her phone at a 2023 event.
«The [Democratic National Committee] was routinely confiscating the phones of top donors with social media followings,» Li said, referring to a party fundraising and campaign group.
«They took away my phone because they knew I was a prolific tweeter. And I posted something on Instagram that night, and a finance director from the DNC called me at around 10 or 11 that same night to instruct me to delete everything from Instagram about Biden that I posted that day.
«The reason is because [Biden] seemed infirm. He seemed weak.»
DEMOCRATS’ MIDTERM PUSH CLOUDED BY INFIGHTING OVER PARTY KEEPING 2024 AUTOPSY UNDER WRAPS
Lindy Li, a former Democratic fundraiser, and former President Joe Biden (Lindy Li; Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
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Now on this side of his presidency, Li believes he will further aggravate Democrats who have wanted to move past the 2024 election and reignite questions of why Biden wasn’t asked to step aside sooner.
«It’s very clear they were trying to hide the fact that instead of having a candidate they could be proud of, they were busy hiding a candidate that they were deeply ashamed of,» she added.
Fox News’ Ashley DiMella contributed to this report
politics, biden pushed out, joe biden
INTERNACIONAL
WATCH: Russian soldier thrown through air as Soviet-era helicopter gun spins out of control
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President Donald Trump said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to reach an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, even as Moscow warned Wednesday that Western troops deployed to enforce any eventual peace deal would become Russian military targets.
«I say, ‘Vladimir, it’s time for you to stop. It’s time for this war to end,’» Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst in an interview released Tuesday.
Trump said he believed Putin was «ready to make a deal» to end the fighting.
ANOTHER NATO ALLY SIGNS ONTO EUROPEAN NUCLEAR UMBRELLA AS CONTINENT BOOSTS SELF-DEFENSE
Meanwhile, fighting continued across Ukraine and Russian-occupied territory.
The intensifying drone war has forced both militaries to search for additional ways to intercept unmanned aircraft, sometimes using weapons designed decades before modern drones emerged.
A video supplied by East2West shows a Russian soldier apparently losing control of a Soviet-era YakB-12.7 rotary machine gun mounted on an improvised ground platform.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump meet in 2019, before their relationship began to sour. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
The weapon begins spinning violently, dragging the service member around before throwing him several yards from the mounting. Another soldier ducks as the gun swings in his direction.
East2West reported that no one was injured, though Fox News Digital has not independently verified the location, date or circumstances of the footage.
The four-barrel machine gun was originally developed for use aboard the Soviet-designed Mi-24 Hind attack helicopter. Russian forces have reportedly attempted to repurpose such weapons as ground-based defenses against Ukrainian drones, East2West news reported.
TRUMP SAYS US WILL LET UKRAINE MAKE PATRIOT MISSILES IN MAJOR POLICY SHIFT
An explosion lights up the sky over the city during a Russian missile and drone strike amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine in Kyiv July 2, 2026. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said any multinational force deployed by Ukraine’s allies after a ceasefire would be unacceptable to Moscow.
«We would regard such units as legitimate military targets,» Zakharova said, according to a Reuters report published Wednesday.
Members of the Western «coalition of the willing» reaffirmed at a meeting in Paris this week that they intend to deploy a multinational force after hostilities end. The proposed force would seek to reassure Ukraine and help Kyiv rebuild its military.
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Ukraine’s military said Wednesday that its forces struck the Balaklava thermal power station in Russian-occupied Crimea, a facility that accounts for nearly half of the peninsula’s electricity generation, according to Reuters.
Russia, meanwhile, launched another major drone and missile attack against Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, killing three people, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said. He said civilian, industrial and port infrastructure had been targeted during five consecutive days of Russian attacks.
Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a vehicle fire after a Russian drone attack in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, May 5, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said Wednesday that Ukraine expects to develop the technical capability to manufacture missiles for U.S.-made Patriot air-defense systems by the end of 2026.
Reuters contributed to this story.
russia, ukraine, vladimir putin, world
INTERNACIONAL
Histórico: retiraron la verja metálica entre España y el enclave británico de Gibraltar y comenzó la libre circulación
Un flujo constante de peatones y vehículos cruzaba este miércoles la frontera entre España y el pequeño enclave británico de Gibraltar, tras la entrada en vigor a medianoche del acuerdo que permite la libre circulación a través de la línea fronteriza.
Era el último muro fronterizo en Europa occidental.
Poco antes de medianoche, el ministro principal de Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, y tres de sus predecesores retiraron la última parte de la verja, un gesto simbólico que marcó el fin de los controles fronterizos.
El acuerdo entre el Reino Unido y la Unión Europea se firmó finalmente el martes en Bruselas, tras años de complejas negociaciones después de la salida del Reino Unido del bloque.
El pacto alinea a Gibraltar con las reglas del espacio Schengen de libre circulación de la Unión Europea.
El Reino Unido abandonó la UE sin que se resolviera el vínculo entre el bloque y Gibraltar, una base militar británica estratégica por su ubicación en la entrada del mar Mediterráneo.
Libre flujo de tránsito
Enseguida, las personas que se habían congregado para presenciar el acontecimiento -muchas con sus teléfonos celulares en la mano para captar este momento histórico-, pudieron cruzar libremente entre la localidad española de La Línea de la Concepción y Gibraltar, en ambas direcciones.
La circulación volvió a intensificarse en la hora punta de la mañana del miércoles, cuando los trabajadores suelen ir desde La Línea hacia Gibraltar.
Muchísimas personas cruzan a Gibraltar en forma libre (Foto: REUTERS/Marcelo Del Pozo)
“Me levanté esta mañana y ya no tenía que llevar el DNI”, dijo a María Jesús Walda, una ingeniera civil de 34 años que se dirigía a Gibraltar.
“Ese es el cambio, en principio. Ahora vamos a ver la evolución”, agregó.
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Con apenas unos 40.000 habitantes, este pequeño territorio británico situado en el extremo sur de la península ibérica depende de los 15.500 trabajadores transfronterizos que llegan cada día desde España, y que representan casi la mitad de su mano de obra.
En el pasado solían formarse largas colas en la frontera terrestre mientras se comprobaban los documentos, especialmente en los periodos de tensión en las relaciones entre Reino Unido y España por la soberanía de Gibraltar, también conocido como el Peñón.
El dictador español Francisco Franco (1939-1975) cerró esta frontera en 1969, después de que Gibraltar decidiera en referéndum, por gran mayoría, continuar bajo dominio británico.
El cierre, que duró 13 años, interrumpió el tráfico diario de trabajadores desde España hacia Gibraltar y separó a familias.
“Cambio drástico”
“Durante décadas la verja (fronteriza) ha sido exactamente eso, una herida abierta para los miles de trabajadores que cruzaban cada día”, afirmó este miércoles el presidente del gobierno español, Pedro Sánchez, en La Línea de la Concepción, poco después de que una grúa retirara las puertas metálicas que durante mucho tiempo separaron ambos territorios.
“Va a ser un cambio drástico, yo creo que para bien. Porque ya no vamos a tener que depender de que si hay cola, si no hay cola para entrar, para salir”, consideró Paul Cutthroat, un agente de aduanas gibraltareño de 60 años.
A pesar de que la mayoría de trabajadores transfronterizos son españoles, gente de diferentes nacionalidades realiza diariamente estos trayectos, entre ellos unos 1600 británicos que viven en el lado español atraídos por el menor costo de las viviendas.
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El enclave contará a partir de ahora con más cámaras de seguridad, tecnología de reconocimiento facial y cámaras de análisis automático de matrículas, prometió Picardo.
“Hoy la verja ya no tiene puertas. Es una verja digital y será más segura que nunca”, consideró el ministro principal en la televisión gibraltareña GBC.
En el referéndum sobre el Brexit de 2016, Gibraltar votó en un 96% a favor de seguir en la Unión Europea. A finales de 2020, Madrid y Londres alcanzaron “in extremis” un acuerdo provisional que permitió mantener la libre circulación, pero la firma de un pacto definitivo tardó en materializarse.
España cedió Gibraltar a la corona británica en 1713 como parte del Tratado de Utrecht, pero nunca dejó de reclamar su soberanía sobre el Peñón, lo que generó tensiones recurrentes entre Madrid y Londres.
(Con información de AFP)
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