While discussing California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Thursday political rally, an effort the politician put together as he joins Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Trump-backed redistricting war, the “Morning Joe” panel said the ICE agents who seemingly randomly showed up at the gathering simply looked like a mess.
“I mean, seriously. What are they doing?” Joe Scarborough said on Friday’s “Morning Joe” episode, as footage of the rally played over his comments. “I don’t know if they’re aware of it, but this is America and the fact that they show up in masks at a political rally. I know, yes, this is ominous, this is this, this is that, blah, blah, blah.”
Several ICE officers can be seen with black masks and sunglasses covering their faces as they stand around in what is presumed to be the rally area. Scarborough went on to say that not only do they look foolish, their presence doesn’t necessarily make it look as if they’re doing their jobs.
“These [agents] really just look stupid and plays right into Gavin Newsom’s hands, plays right into the Democratic Party’s hands and does the exact opposite thing that they would want to do, which is to suggest, ‘We’re not here for political reasons. We’re here to do our job. To arrest those who are in the country illegally.’ Talk about a miss,” Scarborough said.
All this political drama, the ICE agents’ appearance and Newsom’s rally all came about after Texas Republicans announced a push for a mid-decade redistricting before the typical 10-year cycle, which they are doing in an effort to redraw congressional districts with hopes of obtaining at least five more GOP seats in the House before the 2026 midterm elections come around.
Why? Per the Stanford University’s public policy think tank, the Hoover Institution, Texas has argued that the current make up of four House districts is illegal due to three districts consisting mainly Black and Hispanic voters, which they feel could form a majority coalition. The state says that “coalition districts” weaken the goal of “one person, one vote,” which goes against 1965’s Voting Rights Act. As it relates to Trump, some media figures and Newsom himself believe the Trump is pulling the move to save himself from being impeached.
In response, Newsom decided to propose his own mid-decade redistricting map plan as well for Democrats. While a nonpartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission usually handles map drawing, Newsom wants to temporarily override that format until after the 2030 Census to give the Democratic-controlled legislature more power. Per NBC News, on Thursday, Newsom called on California lawmakers to approve his plan, which he is calling the “Election Rigging Response Act,” to appear on the November ballot. If the maps get the greenlight, it would apply to elections from 2026 to 2030.
Right now, California has 52 House seats, 43 are held by Democrats and nine by Republicans. If Newsom’s plan goes forward, Democrats would hold 48 of those seats, which some feel would uphold voters’ preferences.
“Morning Joe” states, both parties could be stepping out of line with the moves, mentioning that both parties are having wins and losses. Scarborough said Trump’s approval rating is “upside down,” with many Americas happy with some of Trump’s implementation of his policies, including some of the elements in his crackdown on illegal immigration. And on the other side, Democrats are gaining wind among Americans at the Senate level.
“Democrats are taking three, four, five, six, even seven-point leads in generic ballots,” Scarborough explained. “There’s a Politico story saying the Democrats, if they squint hard enough, they actually can see a Senate majority.”
He continued: “So again, all of this overreach, again, disturbing, but it should be concerning to Republicans as well, because they are losing the middle of America when they go around, and again separate babies from their mothers, have masked men on the streets of college campuses, grabbing women and throwing them into unmarked cars. It’s not something that Americans are comfortable seeing, and that’s why, despite the underlying popularity of keeping the southern border safe and secure, Donald Trump right now is upside down in some polls on immigration.”
Watch the full segment in the video above.
