Florida Passes Redistricting, Scott Jennings, Hans Von Spakovsky, Fauci Associate Indicted

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I think they're going to really regret this. Let's see if Democrats want to fight on the ground and use any of the small amount of money they've got nationally to waste in a very expensive state like Florida, a state that has been trending so Republican over the last several years. It's a good point. Can't wait to see it. But that point, a state that has been trending so Republican. Here in Virginia, where I was just disenfranchised when my, I mean, I was already in a blue area, but Virginia voters writ large disenfranchised is what they did. But in Florida, they've been doing the work from a policy perspective. They have put forth policies from the Republican side that voters have liked, that not just Floridian voters have liked, people are moving. to Florida to take advantage of these policies. And they get there, they're registering Republican. It's a very different scene what's happening there than what's happening in Virginia. I don't want anybody accusing me of being Barack Obama and being anti-Gerrymander one week and pro the next week. Florida's very different, and they are exercising their right to redraw the districts based on a very different landscape in their state. One other note here, Punch Bowl News covers Washington, D.C. politics. Are you on their morning newsletter that gets sent out? It just came out about 30 minutes ago. And it's funny, they try to make a both-sides argument and say, well, you know, this helps Democrats in blue states too. Blue states have... districts that are drawn based on racial lines for racial representation. And now they can go in and they can maximize even more districts if they don't have to adhere to racial lines. Now, first of all, there's a ton of states that are already completely solid blue, right? But there are states. They're right. Illinois still has a couple of districts, I suppose. Colorado, a couple of other states where they could do this. But think about it for a second. Just just think about it. There's no Supreme Court mandate now that you have to draw lines based on majority minority districts, right? But there's nothing stopping Democrats from key. Right now in certain blue states, so called, you've got some districts that are drawn so that there will be a black representative who votes Democrat in the congressional black caucus. Now you've got governors of those states contemplating, redrawing the lines to remove that district, right? They don't have to, but they're talking about doing it. And it will basically get rid of the black congressman who's in the congressional black district.

so-called dilute the black vote, but they're willing to do it if it means gaining more Democrat seats. So again, they're not compelled to do it. They don't have to do it. But now they're saying, well, we might have to, you know, redraw these maps and get rid of this majority black district just so we can gain more seats and gain more power. It's like, why would you disenfranchise all of those black voters voluntarily if you don't have to? And they will. Somebody call Hakeem Jeffries, update the talking points. Exactly. Why would Democrats do that if their main focus and main concern was making sure that the black vote was not diluted in these states? And now they're openly telling Punchbowl news, yeah, we might have to come and redraw and we'll lose a black district as well. But it's a small price to pay for political power. political power. And this is why Congress's approval rating is lower than cockroaches because it's all just this game when people are like, what are you actually doing for me today as opposed to what are you doing to bolster yourselves? I'm looking at this Florida map, the new Florida map that they just approved. And man, that is redder than a tomato. That is a very, very red. And you've got four blue districts still really tidy with a very concentrated number of Democrats. But you know what? It looks more fair than Virginia. Right. At least they're all together. Yeah, the districts are all compact. They're all compact. They make geological sense and a geographic sense, I should say. You can't look at one district in Florida in this new map and say, well, that's ridiculous. Look at how Jerry meant. No, no. It looks like a county map. It's perfect. It's beautiful. Ron DeSantis is a beast. It's 616. Coming up, by the way, we have Hans von Spikoski. He'll be joining us, talk about the legal ramifications here, what the domino effect might be, what states can do now in time for the midterms. By the way, one of those states where they're saying, well, we might have to have a special session now in redraw it is Maryland. Maryland has one Republican district. They already tried to do this, by the way, in Maryland. They have one Republican district. And now that we don't have to draw our district lines based on racial representation. What district is based on race right now in Maryland? They're just using it as an excuse to try to go back and redraw the maps. And by the way. This process is very expensive for states to do. Oh, yeah.

Yes, it is. So if your state is going back to do this, why don't you say, excuse me, who's paying for that with what money and are you going to tax me more? It doesn't matter. Small price to pay to try to get political power. That's the Democrats motto. We'll ask Conns Von Spikosky if that's even a viable option. So last night, Cassie, you often are called to sit on panels and discuss politics and stuff. Have you done the CNN, Abby Phillips show? I have politely declined. I don't have the spirit of Scott Jennings to be able to do this. Same, same. I hear this. Larry, you should go on that show. No. I refuse. First of all, I have an early wake-up call, and it's hard because I think this show airs at 10 p.m. But also, it just becomes such a garbage. conversation where everyone, and people are, it's like that Pierce Morgan show where it looks like the Brady Bunch and everyone's screaming at each other. I just don't, I have no interest in doing it. It's why I like doing morning meeting because it's the whole intent of the show is to have a civilized, friendly conversation where you don't try to attack each other. All right. So now listen to this exchange. John Avlon, who is the editor-in-chief of Daily Beast, right? Very left-wing rag. Tries to make the case that. We need to have the Voting Rights Act because Republicans reviews to vote for black politicians. Forget the fact that South Carolina has voted for Tim Scott as their senator, that, you know, Byron Donalds's is in a majority white district in Florida, that Wesley Hunt is in the majority white district in Texas and all the examples I can give you. Forget that. His point is, but what about the governors? Of course, Byron Donalds's is about to be the governor of Florida, but set that aside. Take a listen to this. Scott Jennings, God bless this man. It's just a perfect moment. Go ahead. We've obviously got some serious tests. We haven't had an African-American Republican governor since Reconstruction. I mean, you know, there's a, unfortunately, imbalanced two parties. Republicans tried to elect one in Virginia. Okay. And then you got a white Democrat who gerrymandered the state. We're going to end this here. It's all crumbling, John. I love it. And again, typically Jennings makes a great point and everyone tries to talk over him to try to silence it. But yet, oh, we haven't had a black governor in a Republican state. It's like, yeah, well, we just tried to do that. in Virginia. Thank you very much with Winsome Earle-Sears. And instead, we got the whitest woman. Yeah, I mean, she looks like the white witch from lying the witch in the wardrobe. And she gets in there and then gerrymanders the state to silence black. voters and disenfranchise them in the state of Virginia. And on cue, Abby Phillips takes it to commercial. So they always do when he makes that much. We have to leave it there. Bails everybody out. But that is, I mean, the most beautiful thing about this decision. And Samuel Alito wrote the decision. And it's brilliant as usual. But Clarence Thomas's concurrence where, by the way, Clarence Dobis was like, we didn't go far enough.

I've been saying this for 30 years and he has for 30 years. He's been decrying this because you see, Clarence Thomas has had to live with the results of all of these pandering. preferential policies that are meant that liberals throw out there under the guise of and under the cloak of compassion and diversity and we're just saying but but when you are actually a black person who has succeeded in life and excelled and reached the highest levels it's the democrats it's the liberals who say that they need these programs, otherwise black Americans will never advance. They're the first ones who will attack Clarence Thomas and suggest that he's stupid and incapable and not worthy of the position because he dares to think for himself and not tow their line. So they've created this culture where, you know, Black people can succeed, but only because we powerful white liberals have provided them an opportunity that they didn't really deserve. And as long as they march in line with us, we're going to go ahead and give them respect. But the second they go off the plantation, if I may use that term in this context, we will attack them and say that they're actually. not worthy of the position that they have received. And Clarence Thomas is the living embodiment of that. And that's why he so vociferously opposes these things. Yes, and they put an asterisk next to him on their side. That's right. What they tried to do to prevent him from getting to the highest court in the land and trying to say, oh, make that follow him around his entire career. Right. And yet time and time again, he's exactly to your point, where is the lie and everything you just said, exactly to your point that he said, despite you, I'm here. And you can't be bothered to celebrate me. You don't even want to put me in the Smithsonian. He is imminently brilliant. He is imminently qualified. He has exceeded all expectations as an absolute legendary history-making justice, not because of the color of his skin, because of the quality of his thought process and his decisions. And there's a suggestion that I was like, well, no, as if you could make it to the highest court in the land and be a confirmed Supreme Court justice solely because of your skin color and not because of your intellectual weight. That's just absurd. By the way, I wonder what Ketanji Brown Jackson had to say about this decision. Just a random thought that wasn't in any way.

connected to my previous one. 624. Now on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMAL app. O'Connor and Company. Good Thursday morning, 30th day of April, and it's now 637. Thanks for tuning into O'Connor & Company. At 705, Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, who had a couple of wins yesterday, including the indictment of a former Anthony Fauci advisor because he was avoiding FOIA. We only learned it because of Tom Fitten and Judicial Watch's foias. So we'll get into that. Also, at 805, KT. McFarland will give us her perspective, the latest out of Iran. And the... King's visit, Larry O'Connor, with Duchess Cassie Smedley. You got a title while the king was here, didn't you? I've given my, I identify as a Duchess, Larry, an American Duchess. That's what you should. It's what you should. Joining us now is Lord Hans von Spen. No, he would be a Baron with a name like Hans von Spikovsky. Oh, Baron von Spikovsky of Advancing American Freedom. Thanks for joining us, Hans, as always. Well, thanks. Can I be a count instead of a baron? I'd rather be a count. That's true. Count von Spock. I don't know. That sounds like it turned into a bat at midnight, though, so we might want to watch that. Maybe he does. Hans, you pretty much predicted this decision yesterday in the Voting Rights Act. Did you... Were the arguments made by justices Samuel Alito and Thomas sort of in line with what you thought the jurisprudence would be here? And by the way, what was the rationale here? Basically, how did the court reach their 6-3 decision? No, they came down exactly as I thought they would. And the key thing here is, you know, the left is just in hysteria. I mean, the New York Times thing is the end of the Voting Rights Act. No. What they did is they said Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination in voting, is alive and well. But what they said was... It needs to be updated to reflect current conditions. So, for example, if you're in court and you're trying to claim that a state legislature... discriminated against you're the voting context you can't bring in evidence from 50 years ago you have to bring in current evidence of current discrimination going on well that has sent the left into a tizzy the other thing the other thing they said was um

And they warn judges, you have to distinguish between political motivations and racial motivations. In other words, if a group of people are voting in a particular way because of their party affiliation, as opposed to their race, you can't use that to claim, oh, there's some kind of racial discrimination going on. That makes logical sense, by the way. Of course. When I actually read the language in Section 2, people will be surprised to learn that there really isn't any direct reference to ensuring that there are congressional districts that are made up of majority minority voters. That was just an interpretation of a court or a legislature later on, right? No, that's correct. In fact, listen, the Babylon B had a great headline and story yesterday, which they said, you know, oh, my gosh, shocking. The Supreme Court tells Democrats to have to quit discriminating on the basis of race in redistricting. And that's, you know, that's exactly what Section 2 was designed to do when it was passed back in 1965. But it's been abused. For years by Democrats who come in saying they're mad about partisan gerrymandering, so they repackage it as racial gerrymandering, and they convince judges that they're right. In the Louisiana case, you had a federal judge. telling Louisiana, oh, you have to draw up a second majority black district. And what evidence did he have of racial discrimination? Stuff that happened decades ago. Oh, and the black population of the state is about a third. So they're entitled to two of the six seats. Well, if you look at section two, it says this does not give anyone a right to proportional representation. And yet that was the rationale that was being used exact opposite of the statute's language, Cassie. Right. Right. So my question is, what happens now? Do you know, are the maps as they are today, even if they've been overturned, are they still good for this year's elections? Like, what's the next step and what can people expect? Well, I think Louisiana is going to go back to its original map. When it first drew up a new plan for its six congressional seats, it had five regular seats, and then it had one seat, which is it had for decades, where black residents are a majority. A court came in and said, oh, you have to create a second black district. That has now been thrown out, so I think they can just go back to their original plan. What about other states? Well, other states, they don't have to change their plans, but this provides fuel for people who want to sue states. If those states engaged in racial gerrymandering under the mistaken idea that they had to do it to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, they are now wide open.

to potential lawsuits. The problem is we're so close to the elections that there may not be any remedy in time for the November elections. Hans, there's another aspect of this that I think is just delicious irony, where the Democratic Party has done such a effective job, honestly, in the last three decades to sort of... shame black voters into voting Democrat for one reason or another, maybe dependency on federal programs and get them, you know, financially addicted to them and such, or just psychologically tell them that if they vote Republicans, they ain't black or that they're supporting rights. Now, we've seen President Trump be able on a national level to sort of move the needle a little bit in getting black voters to vote Republican, but because these black districts are so heavily Democrat, new legislatures can come in, redraw the districts based on party and political considerations, which are 100% legal. It just so happens that by drawing it that way, they are going to be splitting up and diluting the black vote, but they're not doing it for the intention of diluting the black vote. They're doing it to dilute the Democrat vote. So the Democrats are kind of getting foisted on their own petard here by sort of putting all their eggs in one basket. Am I interpreting that right? No, you got it exactly, exactly right. And remember, that's one of the things that Samuel Alito was saying. And in this was that you have to be very clear that Section 2 is not being abused. to repackage partisan gerrymandering claims as supposed racial gerrymandering claims. And that has now been thrown out as a tool of the Democratic Party. So basically the Democrats can come in and say, you just disenfranchised all these black voters or diluted their representation with the new lines. And the Republicans will say, no, we didn't. We disenfranchised or diluted Democrats with the new lines. And Democrats will say, yeah, but all those black voters are Democrats. And Republicans can say, oh, well, too bad. Right. Yeah. No, that's exactly right. In fact, listen, the best way for Republican legislatures to avoid any kind of lawsuits is when they're drawn up new districts, the demographers from whom they get data, they should say to them, do not send us any. Racial population data. Yeah, don't even want to see it. Don't even want to see those demographics. Yeah. All we want to see is their voting patterns because, you know, we're going to try to draw districts that favor Republicans. If they do that, there's no way anybody can say they violated the Voting Rights Act by engaging in racial discrimination. Hans, real fast, I haven't gotten your take or seen your take on the arguments before the Virginia Supreme Court. Do you mind giving us a quick prediction here on how this fight over the referendum is looking?

Well, listen, if they actually follow the law and enforce the Constitution, the referendum will be declared void because there was no intervening general election in between voting, it already started. But I don't know whether the justices of the state Supreme Court are brave enough to follow the Constitution, brave enough to do their job. Yeah. Oh, all right. Well, that's that's fair enough. All right. Hans, always good to talk to you. We'll talk to you again soon. Thanks. Great. Thanks for having you. And David Morns has been indicted for purposely evading FOIA requests. David Morns was with the NIAID. That's the... allergy and infectious diseases. He was a key player for team Anthony Fauci there during the COVID-19 pandemic. And there are smoking gun emails here that have been discovered saying, I learned our FOIA lady from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear after I'm FOIAed, but before the search starts. He put in an email. Again, this is one of Anthony Fauci's top guys. Don't worry about FOIAs in the email exchanges that they had. And on and on, the screenshots are incredible. Both my Gmail and phone calls are now safe. Text is not, as it can be foiled and as can be my government email. So email me on my Gmail. It's safe from FOIAs. I mean, it's... Literally, and his own words in his own emails, telling everybody how he's avoiding accountability and transparency and government during the pandemic shutdown. He's been indicted. Anthony Fauci, of course, could not be indicted because he got an auto pen pardon. But this is, I'm so glad the accountability on COVID-19 and the pandemic is so elusive. And I feel so. there's been such a lack of justice with regard to what people empowered did to us for no reason. And I was very happy to see these indictments come down. Yes, I agree. I bet he's regretting that he didn't take Hillary Clinton's call on how to clean your server. He said, oh, we'll get rid of these emails before their FOIA. Oops, not all of those. Note to self, your Gmail is discoverable. By the way, I want to know who the FOIA lady is. The FOIA lady, whoever the FOIA lady is at every government department, their job is to ensure that the people who work there are adhering to FOIA. Her job is not to teach people how to avoid FOIA. Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch, is part of the reason why these indictments came down through his use of the FOIA laws. Tom Fitton will join us next.

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