Former Obama attorney general Eric Holder blasted Republican gerrymandering as a “threat to our democracy”—before turning around and praising his fellow Democrats’ gerrymandering efforts.
“There’s no question that gerrymandering is a threat to our democracy,” Holder told NBC News anchor Kristen Welker on Sunday. “But we’re now in a situation … where authoritarian moves are being made by the White House through various states, Texas most prominent among them. And there has to be a response to that.”
“What I’ve said is that we have to protect our democracy now if we ultimately want to be able to save it,” Holder went on. “And so taking the reasonable steps that have been proposed in California, I think, it makes a great deal of sense in this moment.”
Obama’s Wingman:
Gerrymandering is a threat to Democracy.
Also, Democrats need to gerrymander to save Democracy. pic.twitter.com/xaw6Xli2MG
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) August 10, 2025
The “reasonable steps that have been proposed in California” refer to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D.) call for a ballot measure as early as this November. If approved, the measure will give the Democratic-controlled Legislature temporary power to redraw the congressional maps set by the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The proposal would yield up to five additional Democratic seats in the already deep-blue state, Politico reported.
California is one of several blue states, along with Illinois and New York, that have threatened to gerrymander their congressional maps in response to Texas Republicans’ plans to redraw their state’s districts and likely help the GOP secure a larger House majority ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Unlike Texas—where the Legislature can revise district lines with no constraints—the Democratic-led states have structural limits on when and how redistricting can occur. California’s laws, for example, require a ballot measure to change the redistricting method. In New York, “the earliest the lines could be redrawn would be 2028,” the New York Times reported.
This is not the first time that Holder has adopted the double standard, even as his National Democratic Redistricting Committee claims to oppose “mid-decade map redraws” and to “combat ongoing gerrymandering.”
Last month, Holder and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee issued statements that condemned Texas Republicans’ redistricting proposal—and threatened to sue over any map that came from it—while ignoring calls for a Democratic gerrymander. Holder’s group even reposted a Bluesky video from Texas Democrat Isaiah Martin outlining a “plan” to outmaneuver Republicans on redistricting.
Holder’s Sunday remarks came days after more than 50 Texas Democrats fled to Illinois in an attempt to block a vote on the Texas Republicans’ redistricting plan. The FBI on Thursday agreed to help local officials locate the runaway Democratic officials.
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