The Dictatorship
Voting rights are under assault throughout the South — but the people are fighting back
The Supreme Court dealt a blow to a remaining key protection of the Voting Rights Act less than two weeks ago in Louisiana v. Callais. Lawmakers in states across the South heard this starting shot from the high court, jumped off the block and sprinted to redraw maps to undermine Black voters’ voices.
Alabama’s legislative majority wants different maps that would harm Black voters, and on Mondaythe Supreme Court issued a ruling that opened the door for the majority to do just that. Plaintiffs in the case — everyday Black Alabama voters and civic organizations affected by this court decision — immediately went back to the district court to ask them to keep the current map, given people are already voting under it.
Louisiana is trying to stop a primary election that’s already underway and is signaling it will eliminate one or both of the state’s two majority Black congressional districts. South Carolina has opened a process to extend its session to gerrymander its state voting maps. Mississippi lawmakers have signaled they will consider redrawing the state’s maps. And Tennessee just became the first state to adopt new maps after Callais.
This is a crisis for democracy, but the people are making their dissent heard, testifying and rallying at statehouses across the region. Voters in these states refuse to quietly accept these cynical attempts by lawmakers to choose their voters in order to unfairly retain power. The day after the decision, tens of thousands registered for a single organizing call with the “No Kings” coalition.
Hundreds showed up outside the Tennessee State Capitol to rally against the power grab, shouting “no” to the return of Jim Crow maps. In Louisiana, voters in Baton Rouge marched to the capitol to advocate for fair maps at committee hearings. The hearing room in South Carolina on Friday was overflowing with voters standing up for their rights and their communities’ voices. And right now, voters and groups are preparing for a national day of action this weekend, including large peaceful demonstrations in Montgomery and on the historical Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.
In real time, we are witnessing a coordinated effort to undermine the voting rights of Black Americans in the South. But the people who forced the Voting Rights Act into reality did not do so by waiting for those in power to get on the right side of history.
This is a crisis for democracy, but the people are making their dissent heard – testifying and rallying at statehouses across the region.
Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis and thousands of other movement leaders bled, marched and mobilized to pass the Voting Rights Act — the “crown jewel” of the Civil Rights Movement and the foundation of our multiracial democracy. With the Callais decision, however, the court has torn a big hole in that hard-won victory and the fabric of our democracy.
It has failed to do the one thing that the architects of this strategy wanted: It has not made voters disengage. People are flooding into their capitol buildings to stand up for our democracy and for the Black voters whose voices are integral to it. People are doing what the generation before them did: refusing to be silenced and disenfranchised.
They are showing up because they know it’s their right to choose their lawmakers, not the other way around. Gerrymandering, or the practice of election officials creating irrational voting districts to create outcomes that favor one party, is one of the most unpopular practices in American politics. Across every region, every demographic, every party, the vast majority of Americans believe voters should pick their politicians, not the other way around. In poll after poll, large majorities think states drawing legislative districts to favor one party is unfair and should be illegal.
The maps themselves are the tell. Tennessee’s new plan — drawn to eliminate the state’s lone Black-majority congressional district — slices up Memphis into three pieces and pairs Black Memphis voters with voters in Nashville suburbs more than 200 miles away.
That’s not redistricting. That’s voter suppression.
Our communities and country deserve better. We have been here before, and we know what to do, thanks to the courageous actions of previous generations of civil rights leaders. Our work may be harder and the path to success longer because of the Callais decision. But the work is already underway, and We the People will prevail.
So, to lawmakers in the South: Your voters are watching you. The country is watching you. History is already taking notes.
Molly McGrath is a voting rights attorney, advocate, and organizer. She is Director of National Campaigns in the ACLU’s National Political Advocacy Department where she leads voting rights campaigns across the country.
Over the course of June, Donald Trump spent nearly every day focusing attention on assorted construction and beautification projects, emphasizing the unavoidable conclusion that the president takes his renovation crusade very seriously.
His allies aren’t necessarily pleased. The Hill recently reported that Republican officials, worried about the midterm elections and maintaining partisan control, have been “thrown off-balance” by, among other things, Trump’s focus on “pet projects” instead of more meaningful national priorities.
The list of projects keeps growing nevertheless. It includes (but is by no means limited to) the ballroomthe Reflecting Poolthe “triumphal arch,” the fountainsthe horse statuesthe “Trump Promenade,” the “statue garden” and the dozen or so additional renovation projects he’s prioritized in and around the White House complex.
But let’s also not forget the helipad.
A couple of months ago, The Washington PostThe Wall Street Journal and The New York Times separately published similar reports about Trump hoping to build a permanent helicopter landing site on the White House grounds. Evidently, those plans have now advanced to the construction stage. The Post reported this week:
President Donald Trump has begun construction on a new White House helipad, his latest change to the historic grounds, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the project publicly.
Construction crews worked into the night Monday on the White House’s South Lawn, with the project blocked off by a large fence.
The report, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, added that the project hasn’t yet been formally announced by the White House, even as construction is apparently underway.
It’s not yet clear how much the project will cost, who will pick the tab and whether this has joined the growing list of no-bid contracts.
Unlike some of the president’s other priorities, there is a legitimate issue here — the latest generation of helicopters really do damage the White House lawn — although this doesn’t answer the other lingering questions or explain why Team Trump hasn’t acknowledged the existence of the project.
What’s more, this almost certainly won’t be the last of the Republican’s projects.
Earlier this week, the president used his social media platform to promote an artificial intelligence-generated image of a gold eagle affixed to the White House exterior. Trump added in his online image, “A Golden Gift to the White House for its 250th Birthday Year!”
The text (which erroneously said the White House is celebrating its semiquincentennial) suggested the president intends to add this gaudy addition to his ambitious renovation agenda.
Recent polling has found two-thirds of Americans are convinced their unpopular president simply has the wrong priorities. Trump could take steps to change their mind, but he apparently doesn’t want to.
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”
The Dictatorship
Hegseth blasts protesters at ceremony for D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force: ‘Ingrates’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday derided protesters at an event in Washington, D.C., tied to the America 250 celebrationscalling the demonstrators “ingrates” who are “blinded by ideology.”
The D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force event in Meridian Hill Park was set to begin at 9 a.m. ET but did not start until roughly 30 minutes later, as members of the National Guard waited for Hegseth’s arrival amid a brutal heat wave. Protesters shouted during his brief address, in which he said he was to blame for the delay and praised the troops for their service.
“In fact, this background noise this morning is perfect,” Hegseth said about the protesters, with White House adviser Stephen Miller and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche standing behind him.
“It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them,” Hegseth said. “That there’s nothing ideological about this group, there’s nothing political about this exercise.”
Some protesters could be heard shouting “Shame!” and “Guard, go home!”
Pete Hegseth: “This background noise is perfect. It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude, of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them.” pic.twitter.com/aWt5ciuRG3
—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)”https://x.com/atrupar/status/2072679604184109222?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 2, 2026
National Guard troops have been deployed to assist with America 250 celebrations in the capital, though some Democratic governors have warned against their guard members being utilized for a larger federal joint task force to tackle what the Trump administration has called“rampant crime” in Washington.
Many Washington residents are not thrilled with the National Guard’s presence. The controversial America 250 festivities have also sparked criticism from Democrats who accuse President Donald Trump of putting himself at the center of the celebrations.
At the Thursday ceremony, Hegseth suggested the protesters were not from Washington.
“These ingrates will fade away; they’ll go back to wherever they came from,” he said, before asserting that National Guard troops have brought the crime rate down in the capital — a claim that at least one study has found to be inaccurate.
“The crime rate here has dropped in staggering amounts, and the media won’t want to admit it because, of course, they’d have to give credit to President Trump, and then they’d have to give credit to the Department of War or to Stephen Miller,” Hegseth said. “But courageous men like President Trump and Stephen, who said enough is enough, are the reason why this city is a safe and beautiful place.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
Stephanie Ruhle said she was left “almost speechless” after the release of Donald Trump’s new financial disclosureswhich reported he raked in more than $2 billion since returning to the White House. “Man, it looks good to be president,” the “Money, Power, Politics” host said Wednesday.
According to the 927-page document released Tuesday, Trump’s income has only increased since retaking the White House. The president reported almost $575 million in real estate and golf-related income and another $68.6 million in royalties and licensing fees.
But, as Ruhle pointed out, $1.4 billion of Trump’s 2025 total comes directly from one industry: crypto.
Despite having called that industry a “scam” and a “disaster waiting to happen” in 2021, Trump has in recent years appeared to have a change of heart about digital currency.
“That was just five years ago, but now he is a major crypto industry operator and essentially its top policy maker,” the MS NOW host said. “Remember, he is the one who appointed regulators that changed the rules to hugely benefit the crypto industry, and since he came back to office, he has either completely dropped or settled a whole lot of cases with crypto companies.”
As Trump rakes in more cash, Ruhle said the American people are not experiencing the same kind of prosperity, in part because of the administration’s policies. “[They] are suffering, whether it’s because of tariffs, whether it’s because of inflation, whether it’s because of increased costs, because of the war in Iran,” she said.
While Ruhle noted the president has said he does not choose his investments and has said they are in a “blind account,” she said the American people should not ignore how much Trump has profited since returning to the White House.
“Here’s what you need to know: All of this would be a major conflict of interest — a huge scandal — if it were any other presidency,” she argued.
You can watch Ruhle’s full breakdown in the clip below.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”
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