Washington Examiner columnist Guy Benson slammed Democrats for arguing that South Carolina’s redistricting could eliminate black representation in Congress.
Benson said Democrats are crying “voter suppression, racism, and white supremacy,” on Fox Business’s The Bottom Line Tuesday.
South Carolina’s state Senate blocked its redistricting push Tuesday, a move that, if passed, could give Republicans the ability to flip the only Democratic seat held by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC).
Benson reacted to a post by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on X. Khanna said South Carolina is “engaged in an ugly recidivism to draw maps that will deny a Black person the chance to serve in Congress.”
Benson pointed to a post by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) on X that said, “The Left disregards Black success that doesn’t fit their narrative.”
Scott added, “I beat Strom Thurmond’s son in a majority-white district for a seat in Congress. Then won statewide in South Carolina, a majority white state.”
“As Tim Scott points out, he himself served in Congress in a non-racially gerrymandered district and then was elected by the people of South Carolina repeatedly to the U.S. Senate statewide,” Benson said.
Citing Scott as an example, Benson criticized Democrats and the media for bewailing the possibility that Clyburn “would be thrown out of a job” and for asserting that “no black person could get elected in South Carolina as a result.”
“They either don’t think about the existence of a black politician that they don’t like, or they feel like he doesn’t really count for their point because what they’re talking about is Democrats, not skin color,” Benson said.
Benson said some kind of cool-down would be nice for both sides after “punch after counterpunch is thrown.” But he argued that in order for any kind of calm, there would need to be equal participation.
BY THE NUMBERS: HOW MANY SEATS HAS EACH PARTY GAINED IN REDISTRICTING?
“There has to be a good faith partner on the other side, and I think a lot of conservatives and Republicans have come to the conclusion, which is the Democrats right now in this country are not a good faith operation,” Benson said.
They have “crazy illiberal schemes that they are openly discussing for their own power interests,” Benson said.