On the July 15, 2025 broadcast of CNN NewsNight, Abby Phillip and Tiffany Cross denounced Texas’s mid‑decade redistricting as “racial gerrymandering,” citing the claim that 95 percent of Texas’s growth since 2010 came from Black and Hispanic residents, and gerrymandering would undermine the voting power of minorities on the cusp of midterm elections. Abby Phillip opened the segment by saying Trump wanted to destroy Texas’s congressional districts:
“The last time Donald Trump tried to redraw a map, he did it with a Sharpie. This time he wants to do it for the ballot box. The President is telling Texas to essentially blow up their congressional maps to find as many as five seats for Republicans ahead of the midterms.”
As the segment unfolded, the audience was shown a clip of Donald Trump at the White House earlier in the day. When asked by a reporter about congressional seats in Texas, President Trump stated, “…five. I think we get five, and there could be some other states. We're going to get another three or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one, and that'll be fine.”
