Erick Erickson 4-29-26 HR 1

All America, welcome. It is Eric Erickson here across the United States. The phone number is 8779773-745. Should you wish to be on the program, I would be very happy to have you. Text Eric, E-R-I-C-K to 33-77. Should you wish the show notes, the live free, the podcast, anything else you want. By the way, for those of you in Georgia, I did an interview with Rick Jackson yesterday. I'm Brad Raffensperger tomorrow, Chris Carr on Friday, and Bert Jay Jones on May 11th. We are pushing those out. I did it on my flagship station, WSP. And if you text Eric to 3377, click the very first link, you'll be able to see it. No charge, no paywall, no nothing. You'll just be able to get that interview with Rick Jackson. We'll do that with the others as well. Now, there is some breaking news out of the gate I've got to get before I do anything else, including the Clay decision. The breaking news is... Donald Trump has decided to reject Iran's deal. The pacifist and the isolationist of the White House and a lot of academic elites were pushing the President of the United States to accept Iran's proposal. Iran's proposal was to open the Strait of Hormuz and deal with the nuclear issue later. The president has rejected that, said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed. No Iranian oil will be allowed out of the Persian Gulf until such time as Iran decides to give up its nuclear materials. Now, this hurts them more than anyone else because the United Arab Emirates has now brought online its additional pipeline, expanding its ability to flow oil away from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Oman for export. Saudi Arabia is at maximum capacity for its oil reserve. and essentially they're taken close to 20 to 25% of the oil flows of the Strait of Hormuz and they're diverting it, which is good. Now, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, and Bahrain can tap into some of the pipelines, but also... They can get their tankers out of the Persian Gulf under U.S. convoys so they can get out. The only people who can't get out at all are the Iranians, and the Iranians are threatening to target their Arab neighbors trying to get out of the Strait of Hormuz, which is not necessarily going to go well for them. I will have more on this later in the show. The other big story today is the major Supreme Court decision that has come down. We have been waiting for this. I predicted to you all it would be a Samuel Alito case, and it is Louisiana versus Calais from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. It was appealed to the Supreme Court. Let me just. open by reading. And one of the great things about Samuel Alito is not only does he build a coalition, but he is easy, easy, easy to understand. Something you need to know is that this is not going to be as big a deal for Republicans as some of you might think, and I will explain that to you. But let me read this for you. This is Samuel Alito for the court. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was designed to enforce the Constitution, not collide with it. Unfortunately, lower courts have sometimes applied this court's

Section 2 precedents in a way that forces states to engage in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids. This tension between Section 2 and the Constitution came to a head when Louisiana redrew its congressional districts after the 2020 census. In 2022, A federal judge in the middle district of Louisiana held that the map adopted by the state legislature likely violated the second article or section to the Voting Rights Act because it did not include an additional majority black district. But when the state drew a new map that contained a second majority black district, its new map was challenged as a racial gerrymander. A three-judge court in the Western District of Louisiana held that the new map violated the equal protection clause and the state appealed to this court. The parties originally briefed and argued this suit last term, and their arguments at that time highlighted problems in the existing body of Section 2 case law. One problem resulted from the rule that in racial gerrymandering cases, unlike other cases involving claims of racial discrimination, strict scrutiny is triggered only if race predominated in the state's decision-making process. In this suit, Louisiana adopted the challenged map and created the second majority black district because it quite reasonably anticipated that if it did not do so. The Middle District of Louisiana would order the use of a map with a differently configured second majority black district that would effectively oust an incumbent the legislature sought to protect. Under our existing case law, that situation posed the question whether race or politics was the state's predominant motivation. Another problem stemmed from the long unresolved question whether compliance with the Voting Rights Act provides a compelling reason that may justify the intentional use of race in drawing legislative districts. For over 30 years, we have assumed for the sake of argument that the answer is yes. And we have gone further and assumed that it is enough if a state has a strong basis in evidence for thinking that the Voting Rights Act requires race-based conduct. But allowing race to play any part in the government decision-making represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context. These and other problems convinced us the time has come to resolve whether compliance with the Voting Rights Act can indeed provide a compelling reason for race-based redistricting. We now answer that question. Compliance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as properly construed, can provide such a reason. Correctly understood Section 2 does not impose liability at odds with the Constitution, and it should not have imposed liability on Louisiana for its 2022 map. Compliance with Section 2, thus does not justify the state's use of race-based redistricting here. The state's attempt to satisfy the Middle District's ruling, although understandable, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, and we therefore affirm the decision below.

based on partisan gerrymandered. And it just so happened to be that they were majority black districts, and that helped other districts become Republicans. And the Supreme Court is saying, you can draw a district based on partisan composition. In fact, in this case, Louisiana tried to draw a district to preserve Republican strengths. They were not looking at the race of voters. They were looking at the propensity of voters to vote Democrat. It just so happened to be that those were black voters, but it was clear that their predominant view was not, is this person black or white, but is this person a Democrat or Republican? And the Supreme Court says, whether you like it or not, and they make clear they don't like it, but that it's constitutional and goes back to the founding of this country, you can draw a district that preserves partisan strength. In Georgia, there is the second congressional district. That second congressional district is a district that was drawn to preserve Samford Bishop, who is a black congressman. That district can be redrawn. Because that district was drawn explicitly under the rules of the state in its last redistricting not to preserve a majority-minority district, but to preserve a district specifically for that Democrat in order to shore up Republican strength elsewhere. The state of Georgia could redraw some districts. Mississippi and Alabama could as well. And ironically, to do so, you would have more reasonably shaped districts. The racial minority majority districts in southern states are the most bizarrely drawn districts. Florida will totally be able to do its redistricting under this. In fact, Republicans could pick up 10 seats in the South alone based on this decision. However, there's another Supreme Court case you have to worry about. That Supreme Court case is called the Purcell case. And you cannot get from this case without going to that case. The Purcell case is Purcell v. Gonzalez from 2006. And in that case, they articulated what is now known as the Purcell principle. And the Purcell principle is that you cannot change election rules shortly before an election. In Georgia... Qualifying for congressional races has already come to an end and they're in the primary season. Ballots have already been issued. Early voting has already started and the primary happens on May 19th. Under the Purcell principle, Georgia would be constitutionally precluded from calling a special session next week to redraw its congressional districts in light of the Louisiana decision.

because the election date is within the same month. You would be prohibited. So Georgia will not be able to redo its districts this year. However, Georgia would be able to redo its districts for 2028. Alabama and Mississippi, I'm not sure when their primaries are. In fact, let's see, when is the Mississippi primary? Mississippi, 2026 primary. For those of you in Mississippi listening, let's see, the primaries in Mississippi, yep, there you go. So, yeah, it was March 10th already, so you're done. You can't do it. In, let's see, Alabama, Alabama, 26 primary. The Alabama 2026 primary is May 19th, so Alabama is going to be precluded this time as well. South Carolina, I believe, will also be precluded this time as well because of its primary. But Florida will not be because Florida's primary is not until August.

Yeah, South Carolina is June 9. That would be too soon under the Brussels. So South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, it's off. Louisiana's case, because the Supreme Court has now thrown out this case, Louisiana is going to have to redistrict. Louisiana is going to have to redistrict, and that will cost the Democrats a seat. Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi could do redistricting for 2028, but they will not be able to do redistricting for this year because of the Purcell decision, because the election's already underway for the primary election. It's not going to happen. Tennessee could engage. If Tennessee wanted a special election, Tennessee's primary is not until August 6. Tennessee is well outside the Purcell window, so if Tennessee wanted to redistrict, Tennessee could redistrict. But the bottom line is that if there are districts that have been drawn in the past as punishment for trying to dilute racial minorities, you can't change those districts now. But if there are new districts to be drawn and you use race at all, judges can no longer order you to use race. You don't have to use race. You can use the partisan composition. And if it just so happens that it's black voters are voting overwhelmingly Democrat, it's that you're looking for the Democratic vote. You're not looking for the black voters. That's going to be perfectly constitutional now. And in the South, Republicans can gain about 10 to 15 new seats. Have something to say? Hello. Hello. Call the show. 1-877-9-97 Eric. That's 1-877-9-3-7-4-25. Want to be on the show? Come on, be on the show. Call Eric now at 877-973-7-4-25. Hello and welcome. It is Eric Erikson here. The full number is 87793745 if you wish to be on the program. I don't care if this is going to make some of you mad because you know deep down I'm right. This new indictment of James Comey is so, so stupid. And it is offensive to my sense of fair play and justice. It is vindictive and petty. And it is a waste of taxpayer dollars. He put up the 8647 seashell picture on Instagram. You see, oh, he was clearly calling for the death of the president of the United States. He put up a picture of seashells. You can make that reference from it if you want. Most people did. I actually misinterpreted what he was doing when it first came out until someone explained it to me. But the idea that you're going to indict him for putting a picture on Instagram. of Seychelles, 86, 47. It's stupid, vindictive, and petty, and if the President of the United States can do it to James Comey, any president can do it to you too if you make them bad. It's a terrible precedent to set and a waste of taxpayer dollars, and I hope the federal government gets laughed out of court by judges. Now, you have gotten probably a solicitation today on your phone for something. Mine was a business loan. I haven't gotten any of these calls for three days, and suddenly I got one today.

I was getting them all the time, but then I used Incogni, I-C-O-G-N-I, Incogni.com slash Eric, and it shut them down. You want to shut those calls down, too. You need Incogni. Why? Because you got that phone call, because someone went to a data broker online and bought your information. And they probably had your credit information in it. Maybe it had your prescription drug information in it, and they're called to offer you life insurance or health insurance or some credit card scam. Incogni makes the data broker. take your information off the internet and they stick with it. And so I've already sent them this new number that called and they will find out which service did it and they'll shut them down again and I'll stop getting these phone calls. You can experience incogny as well. Incogny.com slash Eric. You saved it 60%. They've already taken my information on 350 different data broker websites. They can do it for you. They work day and night incogny.com slash Eric. It is Eric Erickson here. 877973-745 is the phone number if you want to be on the program. This hour, I need to tell you about Eden Pure and their great thunderstorm. You can get three of them and save 200 bucks at Eden Pure Deals.com. The discount code is Eric 3, E-R-I-C-K, the number three. You'll get them. You'll save $200. They're in air purifier. So they get rid of dust. They get rid of all that sort of stuff. But also... They wipe out odors. They eliminate all odors. They generate ozone. And the ozone goes where you can't go and hits the ionized particles. You and I call odors and wipes them out. I've used it in hotel rooms and rental cars. I've used it on my back porch. But in hotels that actually used them that had fireplaces and need to get rid of the smoky odor. They just work. They're very portable. You can hold them in your hand. You get three of them. Upstairs, downstairs, your basement, your travel bag, your RV, wherever you need them. Plug them with the USB cord. Plug them into the wall. and wipe out odors. Edenpuredeals.com is the website. Edenpuredeals.com discount code is Eric 3. They have a moneyback guarantee. If they don't wipe out odors, see the site for details, a little money back guarantee. Three of them save 200 bucks. Edenpuredeals.com discount code Eric 3. I want to talk you about an immigration story before I move to anything else because I'm noticing this pattern continues. One of the things you need to understand and appreciate is that most of the media, left and right, is far more interested in telling you a narrative, a story time, than they are telling you the facts. And I get asked this all the time. Where do I go? Who do I believe? In fact, my son the other night was with Gunner, and he asked me, Dad, if I want to know more about what's going on in the world, where do I go? I said, first thing you need to understand at your age is that if you go online, particularly YouTube and elsewhere, you're going to be fed a bunch of conspiracy theories and it's going to rot your brain. Do not go listen to social media influencers. I said the problem, son, is that everybody left right and center these days is trying to tell you a story. And so you've got to read a lot of places. So the New York Times will tell you a story. And then Fox News will tell you a story. You need to read both stories and see what facts each one leaves out and put them together and tell the story. Or you tune in to this show. You can get the podcast. You can text Eric to 33777. I got a live stream. I have a podcast. I have the live show.

Some stations running in delay. We've got almost 80 affiliates around the nation now. It is my job to try to tell you the truth. And I want to give you an example of this. Some outlets are more explicitly partisan than others. The Texas Tribune is a partisan progressive site in Texas that pretends to be objective, but everybody knows they've actually got a progressive acts to grind. Let me read you this story. This is their tweet. An Egyptian family of six believed to be the longest held at the controversial South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley were redetained Saturday after federal judges this weekend ordered their release. They are being sent to Egypt on a private plane, according to one of the family's lawyers. The El Gamal family... had been ordered, released by a judge. They had been in the Texas Family Residential Center for quite some time. In this story, you have to read down 13 paragraphs to understand why this family was being held in this facility pending deportation. The father... is the terrorist who in Boulder, Colorado, threw Molotov cocktails at Jewish people and killed a Holocaust survivor. Do you understand that? On social media, the Texas Tribune played up the sympathy for the family. And in the actual story... They buried the point 13 paragraphs in towards the end of the story chronically this family's detention. They buried the story. So if you only saw the headline or you only saw the tweet or you only went three quarters of the way through the story, you would have no idea that the reason this family was detained is because they had come into this country. The father had committed a terrorist act. It turned out they had been here for some time and had overstayed their welcome. And the Texas Tribune, they can say, well, we told you, we told you. Yeah, you told us at the very end of the story after people's attention span had run out. You told us the story, Texas Tribune. You waited that long to tell us the story. There's the problem. So you have the Texas Tribune tell a story to people wherein they wait until the very end of the story to tell you, oh, this family that's been held for so long and was released by a judge and redatained and flown to Egypt on a private plane. Oh, it turns out their father's a terrorist who killed a Holocaust survivor in Colorado. They wait until the very end. Now, let me read you another story. This is from NBC News. This is the tweet. A teen and her family fled torture in Congo to resettle in Maine, and then ICE showed up. Oliver Andre, Olivia Andre, thought the traumas were behind her.

She and her family escaped repression and torture in the Democratic Republic of Congo and suffered the tragic death of her eight-year-old brother on their journey to America in 2022. They spent three years trying to rebuild their lives in Maine. Then ICE arrested the family in November, tearing them apart again with Andre, now 19, detained separately as an adult. Here's what NBC News does not tell you. about that story. The family left the Democratic Republic of Congro for legitimate reasons. They left because of war. But then, where do they go? They did not go to Maine. No, no, they did not go to Maine. They went to Brazil. And then they paid people, allegedly, to ferry them to the border with Arizona, and they crossed into the United States illegally. And over time, they moved to Maine. When they got to Maine, they applied for welfare and began getting welfare, and they got an asylum hearing and an appeal in early 2025. They lost the asylum hearing. They lost the appeal. And instead of leaving, they stayed. NBC News chose not to tell you this story. Under asylum laws, The first country you go to that is safe is the country into which you were expected to apply for asylum under U.S. law. So they went from the Congo to Brazil. They could have applied for safe haven in Brazil, but they didn't want to go to Brazil. They hired people from what we are led to believe who got them into the United States illegally in Arizona. They didn't stay in Arizona to apply for asylum. They didn't stay in Mexico to apply for asylum. They got into Arizona and traveled to Maine, and when they got to Maine, they applied for welfare benefits. Once they got on welfare benefits, they applied for asylum. They were denied asylum. Why? Because they went to Brazil first. They appealed. The appeal was rejected in 2025. And so did they go home? Did they go back to Brazil? Did they go somewhere else? Nope, they stayed. They continued to get taxpayer subsidies in the United States.

and now ICE has come for them because they were ordered deported last year. NBC News didn't want to tell you that part of the story. I always find that so notable that the media is leaving this out. So in Texas, the Texas Tribune buries at the bottom of its story that this Egyptian family that was deported that had been held in federal custody for so long, their father was actually a terrorist who murdered a Holocaust survivor and set other people on fire. That's why they were being detained and deported. They had overstayed their welcome in this country. They had not left when they were told to leave, and now they're being forced to leave. And right at the very end of the story, 13 paragraphs down, does the Texas Tribute admit it? At least they admitted it NBC did nothing with this family, and NBC News did not go into all the details about this family. A teen and her family fled torture in Congo to resettle in Maine, but then ICE showed up. No, actually, before I showed up, two different courts told them they had to leave and they still refused to leave. These are the games the media plays on immigration. And by the way, I think that Republicans should be highlighting these issues and they're not highlighting these issues. I think Republicans should be highlighting these issues because the media is not going to. And as well, it otherwise allows the media to seed false narratives in the minds of people that this administration is being needlessly cruel to people. We see popping in the polling. that this belief that the Trump administration is cruel, somehow intentionally cruel to people. That's not the case. Now, Kristi Noem, I think, Corey Lundowski and Bovino or whatever, that they were being cruel. They wanted it in everyone's face to try to discourage people from staying here. They wanted self-deportations. And to a degree, it worked, by the way. To a degree, it worked. But it didn't completely work. And now the media's response is to sell you these stories softly, chitly, without all the facts. So it makes the president look bad. It makes the Republicans look mean. And by the way, these are not the only two stories. These are the most recent examples. These have come out of the last 48 hours. But there have been plenty of other stories out there. There have been stories about illegal aliens who committed crime who were forced to deport. There's the Maryland man. You know, they called him the Maryland man. He wasn't a Maryland man. He was a legal alien from El Salvador, Abrago Garcia, who the administration argues has been tied to a gang. Last week, there was the Atlanta man. The Atlanta man killed a Department of Homeland Security employee. No, the Atlanta man. It was a man who came illegally into the United States who committed crimes and somehow was still able to get residency in the United States by the Biden administration. And the media left all of that out. They said it was an Atlanta man killed a Department of Homeland Security employee. The media left out the key facts.

Because the media doesn't want to paint a picture that might put minorities in a bad light. That's what it boils down to. They are so obsessed with the woke prerogatives of the day. They can't imagine being able to highlight the facts of an illegal alien in how they got into this country. Because they think it's racist. The brains of the media are broken. That's why there is an intentional partisanship in the media, but so much of it is not because they're trying to help the Democrats. It's because they think it's racist to tell you all these facts. That's my job now. It's discrediting to the media. It's why so many people don't trust the media anymore. And these are only the two latest stories. These come out every single week. And I've got to tell you, I am frustrated with the Republican Party for them not elevated this. Every Republican member of Congress should highlight these stories on their social media feeds. I think there should be a coordinated operation. In fact, Mr. Speaker, as Charles III III called you yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I think it would be who of you. to on a daily basis send out these sorts of stories to your members of Congress through the NRCC and urge them to highlight that yet again the media left out key details. And I think if you got Republican members of Congress, either through their official accounts or their campaign accounts, to highlight NBC News left out these key details on this story, here they are. It would not only amplify it for the constituents of these members of Congress that, by the way, these issues aren't being solved and Trump is working on the media is making them hard, but also seeing further the narrative and highlight how the media is shaping these stories. I think Republican members of Congress should be recirculating the pushback on these stories and amplifying them for their constituents so the constituents know the media is lying to them. It's not that the Republicans are mean and awful. It's not that the Republicans are overplaying their hand. It's that the media has left out key details. And if the Republican members of Congress, we're going to get into some pretty brutal polling here a little bit for Republicans. If the Republican members of Congress were willing to amplify the corrections to these stories and highlight how the media is shaping deportation stories to be critical of Republicans when, in fact, the people who are being deported should be deported. I think that helps the Republicans push beyond the narrative right now about the recklessly, needlessly cruel Republicans in this agenda. They've got to fight back on this stuff, and I don't think they're doing a very good job of it right now. Have something to say? Hello. Call the show. 1-877-9-7 airing. That's 1-877-97-9-7-425.

This hour of the program brought to you by Van Allen Golf, A-L-L-L-E-N, Van Allen Golf.com. You can text golf to 33-777. I've got one of their putters. I've gifted their putters to friends. Everybody loves them, you will too. If you're into golf or have someone you love who is into golf, you need to check out the Van Allen Golf website, Van Allen Golf.com. Keote is leaving its Los Angeles soundstage business behind. Now, You perhaps have no idea who this is, and I did not until a little while ago. This is one of the largest major soundstage operators in the world. And, well, it turns out that Los Angeles is no longer a place they feel good doing business. Now, they're winding down operations in Georgia and New Mexico as well. They're scaling back their footprint. In Georgia and New Mexico, they operate a vehicle fleet. They offer production supplies for film and TV projects. They're winding that down. But in Los Angeles, in particular, they've decided it is no longer a place where they can do business. Why? Because, well... the political environment and the costs that come from it. People who run these companies, they keep voting for these left-wing politicians. They keep voting for them, and then they get the policies they vote for, and then they can't afford them, and they shut down their business. This is where you are. It's kind of wild. Kind of wild. But you know, you see this all the time with progressives. They bite the hands that feed them. They demand all of these politicians and all these policies, and then they get the policies. They can't afford them, so they pack up and leave. And unfortunately, they never learned their lesson. That's one of the fears I have about progressive spreading out across the country from failed states like California and New York. But what the data has shown so far in places like Texas and Florida is that the people who are showing up are rejecting the policies of the states they left. They tend to be in Texas, for example. Most of the immigrants to Texas who have fled California and New York are far more conservative than the people there. arriving at. They're moving into Fort Worth and Dallas and Houston, and they're arriving at Native Texans who become liberal over time, don't realize how good they have it. And it's the immigrants into those states from California and New Mexico, the people who fled those states who turn to be more conservative and vote for the GOP. It's kind of an interesting dynamic that doesn't get picked up. in the narratives. By the way, the story that I was going to talk about here, I need to give this to you. This is important. Russian mercenary Africa Corps has been defeated in a battle against al-Qaeda in Mali. Now, this is very important for you to understand.

The Russians in Mali, which is a country in West Africa, they essentially agitated for that country to throw out an American military presence that was keeping the jihadis at bay. And the Russians said they could do it. So Mali said, okay, we'll throw out the Americans. They brought in the Russians, and now the Russians have been defeated by the jihadis, the Russian mercenaries. analysts say it could be a turning point in Moscow's influence in West Africa. Russia has been grabbing Mali's precious minerals and gold in exchange for protection from the insurgents. They pushed out the Americans, and now they themselves have been slaughtered by the radicals. So hopefully the United States can come back in there and take care of the terrorists because the terrorists need to be taken care of. Now, you need to take care of yourself and you need insight into what's happening to the world, and Swiss America can give you that if you go to Swissamerica.com slash Eric. Swissamerica.com slash erick. If you go to Swissamerica.com slash Eric, you can get their secret war on cash report where they tell you how the government is trying to observe your purchases and how to get around it. By the way, this applies to crypto too. The U.S. 1 should use your credit, not your crypto, not your actual. legal Tinder because they want to be able to spy on you. Swiss America can also give you insights into the markets. Click their news and views tabs, subscribe to their podcast, Swiss American Trading on YouTube. They can give you bleeding edge information on how events of the day are going to impact precious metals, impact commodities, impact world markets, and the BRNations, you go to Swissamerica.com slash Eric. Swissamerica.com slash E-R-I-C-K. Sign up with Swiss America today. Get smarter than your friends when it comes to your investing if you're looking for someone to buy precious metals from Swiss America. can take care of you on that. It is Swissamerica.com slash E-R-I-C-K. Swissamerica.com slash Eric. Swiss-Americ can get you their report. The secret we're on cash completely free. Delivered to you. Fill out your information. Start a relationship with them today.