Chuck Todd warns America is heading towards a 'cold civil war' as redistricting battle continues
Todd contended that the ongoing redistricting battles are "just the latest skirmish between what is turning into a cold civil war," and that it is President Donald Trump and the Republican Party who are "creating this unprecedented challenge to our constitutional republic."
"I hate using that rhetoric. I hate using those words, but what else are you going to describe it? We are literally having a redistricting war between the states right now, and we have governors who have decided they don't care about the minority rights in their own states," Todd argued. "Greg Abbott doesn't care. If you don't agree with Greg Abbott, he is going to force his will upon you in the state of Texas. And if you don't agree with Gavin Newsom and how they're going — he's going to force his will upon you."
The former NBC host stated that "this is not what the founders intended," placing blame on both sides of the aisle, but focusing in on Trump as the primary catalyst for what he describes as a "cold civil war."
"This is not a policy fight. This isn't the usual partisan back and forth. It is a direct stress test of whether our constitutional system actually works when a president and his party decide they don't have to care about the limits that are written down on paper," he asserted. "Trump has spent years — parts of his first term and much so far of these first 200-plus days bending and breaking the guard rails of the republic."
While Todd criticized the Trump administration's use of federal power and Texas Governor Greg Abbott's redistricting efforts, he also took issue with the Democrats' 'fight fire with fire' approach to these perceived problems.
"The Democratic response is pretty troubling because, right now as a party, okay, as an official party apparatus, they've decided to frame this moment as a war, right? Okay, you got to fight fire with fire. This is an unprecedented moment, so they're framing this as a war," he stated. "And when you tell yourself you're in a war, you start rationalizing things you'd normally not do that you would say is immoral or wrong or unprincipled. But hey, it's war and all is fair in war, right?"
Todd noted that Democrats have championed independent commissions and wanted competitive district mapping for years, but now with Republicans "openly wanting to break the rules like they're doing in Texas," Democrats are also looking to "break the rules" with their own redistricting efforts.
"And if you criticize that decision, as I've been doing, I've been told I'm naive, that I don't understand the stakes, that you are not taking this threat seriously," he railed. "Au contraire, my friend, I do god---- understand the stakes, and we are not replacing one unprincipled, unconstitutional set of leaders with another set of unprincipled, unconstitutional set of leaders."
In closing, Todd called on Republican members of Congress to "check" Trump's power and use the tools afforded to them by the Constitution to hold him accountable for the "unconstitutional" actions he has taken while in office.
"They've not lifted one finger of oversight. Not one… You couldn't even say there've been a weak check on Trump. It has been no check on him at all," he asserted. "Guess what? The Constitution can't enforce itself without people willing to wield those checks. All we have are words on yellowing parchment paper."
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