Politics
Granderson: One pillar of American racism is also propping up Fox News
I swear, every time I hear Newt Gingrich spout off, I think of the brilliant 2020 book by Isabel Wilkerson, about the eight core beliefs that uphold a caste system. The pillar of “inherent superiority vs. inherent inferiority” is the one that keeps Gingrich on TV.
Opinion Columnist
LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports and navigating life in America.
Conservatives have known he was full of it since his first campaign in 1974. Back then Gingrich touted a campaign slogan — “Newt’s family is like your family” — though it was common knowledge he was cheating on his wife.
“Jackie was kind of frumpy,” Gingrich’s first press secretary told Mother Jones. Gingrich reportedly told his campaign treasurer that his wife was not “pretty enough to be the wife of the president. And besides, she has cancer.”
So when Sean Hannity of Fox News wanted someone to criticize the credibility of Vice President Kamala Harris, the natural choice was of course … Newt Gingrich. A man who faced ethics investigations and was forced out as House speaker. A man who avoided paying more alimony and child support when he had a $4-million book advance coming his away. Yes, Fox News … America is just dying to hear what Gingrich has to say about credibility.
“Kamala’s hopeless because she’s Kamala,” he quipped this month. “Anybody who watches her knows the idea of her being president makes Biden look good, which is really hard nowadays. You have to start with the idea that she has imprinted on the country, permanently, that she’s a very shallow, uneducated and uneducable person. Other than her weird laugh there’s no significant part of her.”
Harris graduated from Howard University and has a law degree. Her mother left India to come to the United States in 1958 to study biochemistry. Her father is an economist who taught at Stanford. They both earned doctorates in their respective fields from Berkeley.
Gingrich called the vice president both “uneducated” and “uneducable” not for the sake of truth and honesty but to protect the pillar of caste that would be threatened by the truth about Harris. The one identified in Wilkerson’s book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” as “inherent superiority vs. inherent inferiority.”
Citing 1942 observations from the Yale scholar Liston Pope, she wrote in the book: “A caste system has a way of filtering down to every inhabitant, its codes absorbed like mineral springs, setting the expectations of where one fits on the ladder. The mill worker with nobody else to ‘look down on’ regards himself as eminently superior to the Negro. The colored man represents his last outpost against social oblivion.”
For 50 years, Gingrich’s political positions have gravitated to whatever the polls said they should be. What has been consistent is his willingness to demean. That sharp tongue was something that became a hallmark early on in his political career and was on full show when it came time to talk about welfare reform during the 1990s. His policy debates were opportunities to use dehumanizing rhetoric to refer to anyone he deemed “less than.” And by proxy, Gingrich supporters were also able to look down on those who needed assistance.
Even after leaving Congress in scandal, and even after his well-documented mistreatment of women, Gingrich somehow still communicates to his audience: “We are inherently better.” And that’s why he felt comfortable saying the nonsensical things about Harris that he did. He knows he’s lying, but his lies bring comfort to those who cling to that pillar of the caste system.
Ava DuVernay adapted “Caste” for the big screen in 2023 with the movie “Origin,” which recently started streaming and landed in the Top 3 on Hulu. It does a beautiful job of transforming Wilkerson’s reporting into a compelling narrative about our shared humanity — the joys and the pain. And it does so in desperate pursuit of understanding and healing as opposed to showcasing trauma with a punitive tone.
During last season’s cinematic commercial hurricane that was Barbenheimer, “Origin” did not get the attention it deserves. In its second life, I’m glad it is finding more viewers.
Voters who see this film very well might think about the upcoming election in a different way — seeing the various ways caste continues to manifest in America and the eight pillars on which it stands.
Gingrich is a smart man. He has a doctorate in European history. He chose his line of attack against Harris strategically, not to critique policies of the Biden administration but to prey on the discomfort a lot of people have about the idea of a Black woman being president. And to prop up that “inherent inferiority” pillar of America’s caste system.
While neither major party would pass a purity test, there is only one party that keeps putting a microphone in front of people like Gingrich … and it’s not because the audience wants to hear the truth.
Politics
See Where the Gerrymandering Wars Have Redrawn U.S. Congressional Maps
The nationwide gerrymandering battle has escalated in recent weeks, after a landmark Supreme Court ruling in April weakened the Voting Rights Act and set off a scramble to redraw maps in some Southern states that have yet to hold primaries.
Eight states have redrawn their congressional districts since President Trump pressured Texas lawmakers last summer to pass a new map favoring Republicans. Republican lawmakers in two states are pushing to use a new map ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Here is a look at how district lines have changed in each of the states that have redrawn maps, and how the new maps would have fared in the 2024 presidential election.
Tap on a district for details.
2024 presidential vote margin
Number of districts
2024
2026
Change
+20 Dem. and greater
27
21
–6
+10 to +20 Dem.
6
16
+10
0 to +10 Dem.
8
10
+2
0 to +10 Rep.
6
1
–5
+10 to +20 Rep.
3
2
–1
+20 Rep. and greater
2
2
0
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic state lawmakers moved quickly to redraw California’s congressional districts in response to Texas’ gerrymandered map. The new California map, which lawmakers approved in August and voters passed in November of last year, was designed to flip five red districts.
The Supreme Court upheld the map in February, dismissing Republican claims that the state’s new district boundaries illegally favored Latino voters.
Tap on a district for details.
| 2024 presidential vote margin | Number of districts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2026 | Change | |
| +20 Dem. and greater | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| +10 to +20 Dem. | 0 | 1 | +1 |
| 0 to +10 Dem. | 5 | 0 | –5 |
| 0 to +10 Rep. | 0 | 1 | +1 |
| +10 to +20 Rep. | 9 | 16 | +7 |
| +20 Rep. and greater | 11 | 7 | –4 |
Florida’s Legislature passed a new map just days after the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act. The map creates four more Republican-leaning House seats, splitting up a Democratic-leaning district in the Tampa area and eliminating a Democratic-leaning district in the Orlando area.
Tap on a district for details.
2024 presidential vote margin
Number of districts
2024
2026
Change
+20 Dem. and greater
2
1
–1
+10 to +20 Dem.
0
0
0
0 to +10 Dem.
0
0
0
0 to +10 Rep.
1
0
–1
+10 to +20 Rep.
0
3
+3
+20 Rep. and greater
5
4
–1
In late September, Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, signed into law a new map that slices the Democrat-leaning core of Kansas City into districts with heavily Republican rural areas. Republicans hope to add one Republican seat, ousting longtime Representative Emanuel Cleaver and leaving the state with just one solidly Democratic district in the St. Louis area.
Tap on a district for details.
2024 presidential vote margin
Number of districts
2024
2026
Change
+20 Dem. and greater
3
3
0
+10 to +20 Dem.
0
0
0
0 to +10 Dem.
0
0
0
0 to +10 Rep.
2
1
–1
+10 to +20 Rep.
8
10
+2
+20 Rep. and greater
1
0
–1
In North Carolina, Republicans control both houses of the legislature and approved a new map in October of last year. The new map could give Republicans an extra seat in the First Congressional District, which previously included all eight of the state’s majority Black counties and was redrawn to include more conservative-leaning counties.
Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, cannot veto redistricting plans, per the state Constitution.
Tap on a district for details.
2024 presidential vote margin
Number of districts
2024
2026
Change
+20 Dem. and greater
2
2
0
+10 to +20 Dem.
0
0
0
0 to +10 Dem.
2
1
–1
0 to +10 Rep.
3
3
0
+10 to +20 Rep.
2
3
+1
+20 Rep. and greater
6
6
0
Ohio’s bipartisan redistricting commission approved a new map in October of last year that could add up to two Republican seats. The new map dilutes Democrat-held districts near Toledo and Cincinnati.
Unlike many other states pursuing maps ahead of the normal timeline, Ohio had been required under its state Constitution to redraw its congressional maps before the 2026 midterms.
Tap on a district for details.
| 2024 presidential vote margin | Number of districts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2026 | Change | |
| +20 Dem. and greater | 1 | 0 | –1 |
| +10 to +20 Dem. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 to +10 Dem. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 to +10 Rep. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| +10 to +20 Rep. | 1 | 0 | –1 |
| +20 Rep. and greater | 7 | 9 | +2 |
Tennessee Republicans moved swiftly after the Supreme Court decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act. Gov. Bill Lee signed a new map into law in early May that carves up the only Democratic district in the state, a majority Black district encompassing the Memphis area, splitting it into three neighboring districts.
A coalition of voters and Democratic candidates sued Tennessee officials in federal court over the new map, arguing that it was unconstitutional to implement new district lines this close to the state’s Aug. 6 primary.
Tap on a district for details.
2024 presidential vote margin
Number of districts
2024
2026
Change
+20 Dem. and greater
10
7
–3
+10 to +20 Dem.
1
1
0
0 to +10 Dem.
0
0
0
0 to +10 Rep.
2
0
–2
+10 to +20 Rep.
4
8
+4
+20 Rep. and greater
21
22
+1
Texas was the first state to redistrict last year, after President Trump urged Republican leaders to redraw maps ahead of the midterm elections.
The new map, signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in August of last year, could add up to five Republican seats in the state. Democrats argued that the new lines cut into majority Black and Hispanic districts in violation of the Voting Rights Act, but the Supreme Court upheld the map in December.
Tap on a district for details.
2024 presidential vote margin
Number of districts
2024
2026
Change
+20 Dem. and greater
0
1
+1
+10 to +20 Dem.
0
0
0
0 to +10 Dem.
0
0
0
0 to +10 Rep.
0
0
0
+10 to +20 Rep.
1
0
–1
+20 Rep. and greater
3
3
0
A Utah state judge in November tossed out a congressional map proposed by the state’s Republican Legislature, instead adopting a map offered by a centrist coalition. That map adds a Democratic-leaning district surrounding Salt Lake City.
Tap on a district for details.
2024 presidential vote margin
Number of districts
2024
2026
Change
+20 Dem. and greater
1
0
–1
+10 to +20 Dem.
0
1
+1
0 to +10 Dem.
1
0
–1
0 to +10 Rep.
0
0
0
+10 to +20 Rep.
0
1
+1
+20 Rep. and greater
5
5
0
Alabama had faced a ban on middecade redistricting until after the 2030 census. But after the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, Republicans in Alabama sought to revert back to a map first proposed in 2023 that had previously been rejected as a violation of the act.
The Supreme Court removed a critical obstacle for the use of that map in May, which would most likely do away with one of two majority-Black districts in the state.
Still, legal challenges remain. A panel of federal judges on May 26 rejected the new map, saying that the districts discriminated against Black people and could not be used so shortly before a vote. Alabama has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, delayed House primary elections after the Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act tossed out Louisiana’s current maps. Ballots cast in the state’s primaries, where early voting began just days after the decision, did not count. New primary elections will be held in November.
The Louisiana Legislature is continuing to debate a new map, but is expected to eliminate at least one of the state’s two majority-Black districts.
Politics
John Thune goes ‘all in’ for Ken Paxton after bitter primary ripped GOP apart
Trump’s endorsement power highlighted after Texas GOP primary runoff
Fox News contributors Kaylee McGhee White and Meghan Hays analyze President Donald Trump’s significant endorsement power after Ken Paxton’s decisive victory over John Cornyn in the Texas GOP primary runoff. They discuss the strong message sent by Republican voters against entrenched politicians and the potential impact of economic concerns on the upcoming general election, where Paxton faces far-left Democrat Talarico. The segment highlights evolving voter dynamics in Texas.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton added another endorsement to his growing field of backers in the Senate GOP: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
Thune announced his support of Paxton on the Hugh Hewitt show Wednesday afternoon, less than a day after the bloody primary fight in the Lone Star State concluded. And the main target now is Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the insurgent Democratic nominee waiting for Paxton in November.
“The voters, Republican voters in Texas spoke last night,” Thune said. “Ken Paxton is their nominee heading into November, and we got to pivot and go all in to make sure that we keep Texas red, that he wins, and that we keep a far left liberal out of the United States Senate.”
MAGA TRIUMPH: TRUMP ALLY KEN PAXTON DEFEATS JOHN CORNYN IN BITTER TEXAS GOP PRIMARY WAR
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., leaves the Republican Senate luncheon in the U.S. Capitol on March 3, 2026, arguing that Democrats were pushing to keep DHS closed because it was “politically advantageous.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“And obviously, that seat is gonna be very key to our majority, which will determine the future of this country,” he continued.
Paxton was neither Thune nor the majority of Senate Republicans’ first choice, however.
Most of the Senate GOP backed longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, throughout the grueling battle to elect Texas’ Republican nominee for Senate. And many were shocked when President Donald Trump opted to endorse Paxton at the last minute, one week out Tuesday night’s runoff election finale.
PAXTON RACKS UP TEXAS ENDORSEMENTS AS BITTER CORNYN RUNOFF HITS FEVER PITCH
Republicans feared that if Paxton came out on top, it could tip the balance in favor of Democrats, who haven’t sent a lawmaker to the upper chamber since 1988.
But facing Talarico, who easily toppled his primary opponent Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, has placed the priority of maintaining the GOP’s majority in the Senate over personal choice for Republicans.
“We’ve gotta do everything we can do as a party, to make sure that that we win this race,” Thune said. “Because, you know, losing is not an option when it comes to the state of Texas, and what it means for our majority in the Senate.”
Thune isn’t the first Senate Republican to back Paxton, either.
‘OPEN BORDERS TRUMP-HATING RADICAL’: GOP UNLEASHES EARLY BLITZ ON TEXAS DEMOCRAT TALARICO
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, President Donald Trump, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are pictured together. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg)
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, leapt ahead of the crowd Tuesday night shortly after the race was called and urged the GOP to come together to beat Talarico, who he charged was a “far left freak who supports open borders, trans ideology, and even called the American flag a ‘complicated symbol.’”
“I am proud to endorse [Paxton],” Moreno said on X. “The voters have spoken, now Republicans must unite and win.”
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And the number two Republican in the Senate, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., soon followed.
“James Talarico is a far-left extremist,” Barrasso said on X. “He is a rubber stamp for open borders, illegal immigrant criminals, and men playing in women’s sports. Talarico is too radical for Texas.”
Politics
Longtime correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi expects to depart ’60 Minutes’ as big changes loom
Sharyn Alfonsi, the longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent who clashed with CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss over a story on Trump White House immigration policies, said Wednesday her contract is not being renewed.
“Over the weekend, my contract with CBS News expired, drawing to a close nearly twenty years with the network, including more than a decade at ’60 Minutes,’” Alfonsi, 54, said in a statement to The Times.
“Following an intense editorial dispute over our CECOT story, repeated attempts by my representation to establish a path forward were met with absolute silence from network executives,” she added. “The message could not be clearer: my time at 60 Minutes is apparently over.”
CBS News declined to comment on Alfonsi’s remarks. Her contract expired this past weekend but she remains employed at the division on an “at will” basis, which means she can be terminated at any time, according to people familiar with the discussions. Producers who worked with Alfonsi have been assigned to other correspondents.
Alfonsi made her comments as the “60 Minutes” staff anticipates significant changes in the coming days, which could include shifting the lineup of correspondents. Anderson Cooper has already announced his departure from the program after 20 seasons.
A scene from the “60 Minutes” report “Inside CECOT.”
(CBS News)
The segment at the center of Alfonsi’s likely exit, “Inside CECOT,” detailed the Trump administration’s treatment of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants who were deported to an El Salvador prison known for its harsh conditions.
“Inside CECOT” was scheduled to run Dec. 22 but was pulled the day before air by Weiss, who believed it needed more reporting, including a direct on-camera response from the administration, which did not participate.
Alfonsi protested the decision to hold the story, calling it politically motivated in an email she sent to colleagues that was shared publicly.
Alfonsi said at the time the story was ready for air after being vetted by the network’s attorneys and the standards and practices department.
“It is factually correct,” Alfonsi wrote. “In my view, pulling it now — after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
“Inside CECOT” eventually ran on Jan. 18 without any substantial changes to its tone or reporting. Weiss acknowledged internally that pulling the segment after it had already been promoted was a mistake.
The move created the first public relations fiasco under Weiss’ watch and tarnished the strong journalistic reputation of “60 Minutes.” The matter also added to the narrative that Weiss was installed at CBS News to placate the Trump administration as parent company Skydance Media sought government regulatory approval to buy Paramount and its current deal to merge with Warner Bros. Discovery.
The program has been in turmoil since October 2024 when President Trump filed a $20-billion lawsuit against CBS over an interview conducted with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that was settled to help clear the regulatory path for Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount last year.
Weiss joined CBS News in October with a mandate from Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison to pull the division to the political center. The founder of the conservative-friendly digital news site the Free Press, Weiss has wanted to make changes to “60 Minutes” but put them off until after the 2025-26 TV season ended this past weekend.
In her statement, Alfonsi predicted CBS News would try to make her exit an administrative decision not related to her work.
“In the coming days, network leadership may attempt to hide behind corporate euphemisms like ‘modernization’ and ‘restructuring’ to explain away my departure,” Alfonsi said. “Don’t be misled. This was not a routine corporate transition; it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting, and it sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom.”
Insiders at CBS News are uncertain about the extent of the planned overhaul. Weiss has been advised to limit any disruption to “60 Minutes,” which is coming off a strong season of ratings performance.
Nielsen data showed the program averaged 9.1 million viewers in its Sunday time period, up 9% from the previous year. The program’s views across digital and social media platforms were also up substantially.
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