Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov aimed a surprising comment at The Five host Jesse Watters on Wednesday (April 22) as the panel was discussing redistricting efforts and claims of gerrymandering. “Jessica, you guys have been gerrymandering for quite some time. You are very good at it. Trump tried his hand at it, did it in Texas, got some good results,” Watters said. “And then you guys have just been running the table. Can you stop? Can you slow down?” The discussion came after voters in Virginia on Tuesday (April 21) approved a change to district lines, which could possibly help Democrats win control of the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections. A Virginia judge has since paused the approval, claiming the new map and the bill are unconstitutional. Tarlov told Watters, “No,” the Democrats won’t slow down, quipping, “All gas, no brakes.” “So the top ten gerrymandered states in the country, only two of them are Democratically controlled, by the way, so this isn’t really all about how we’re the evil gerrymandering force,” she continued before turning her attention to what Watters said earlier and, surprisingly, admitted he was right. “But you are correct in your setup, which I think has never happened in recorded history, at least of me being on The Five, that you guys were the ones who started it,” the Democratic Party political strategist said. Tarlov also made a dig at Watters for previously dismissing her predictions that President Trump’s gerrymandering efforts would potentially backfire on Republicans. “I remember when I was talking about and said, ‘This has the potential to backfire and could become a dummy-mander,'” she recalled. “You said something like, ‘Who cares about a dummy-mander. What’s that weird word you are saying, Jessica?'” Other members of the panel laughed as Watters remained silent. Tarlov went on to say that Democrats aren’t “fighting as dirty” as Republicans on the issue of redistricting, noting how Democrats “still asked voters what they thought about it” beforehand. “Donald Trump called Greg Abbott [Governor of Texas] up and said ‘Do this,'” she continued. “Greg Abbott, who, according to reports, was skeptical about doing it but knew he had to say yes to his master, so he went ahead and did it.” Tarlov added, “In California and Virginia, they actually took it to a ballot, and they asked the voters what they wanted.”
[Context: The discussion on redistricting efforts and claims of gerrymandering took place on Fox News’ show, The Five.] [Fact Check: The approval of a change to district lines in Virginia has been paused by a judge who claims the new map and the bill are unconstitutional.]
