Overview
- Watters, speaking on Fox News' The Five on Thursday, said Black people should "get in between the sheets" if they want more representation in the House.
- Co-host Harold Ford Jr., a former Tennessee congressman, pushed back and argued the problem is partisan map-drawing that rigs districts for one party.
- The exchange drew on last month’s 6–3 Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which raised the bar for Section 2 Voting Rights Act claims by stressing proof of intent.
- Republican-run states, including Louisiana, Florida, and Tennessee, have advanced or proposed new maps that critics say reduce or erase majority-Black districts, with Florida’s plan cutting Democratic seats and Tennessee’s plan ending its lone Democratic district.
- Reaction on X featured sharp condemnation from advocacy groups and public figures, while coverage tied the comments to a broader fight over how new maps could weaken Black voting power.