What to know about Saturday protests against Trump's redistricting effort
Why it matters: "Fight the Trump Takeover" events organized nationwide push against President Trump's effort to draw a new map more favorable to the GOP ahead of 2026 midterms.
"Trump is trying to steal the 2026 election by rigging the system and changing electoral maps," the organizers' website said. "He started in Texas, but he won't stop there. We are fighting back."
The White House did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
State of play: The movement is backed by dozens of organizations, including Indivisible, Planned Parenthood and the Democratic National Committee.
About 200 events were scheduled in 34 states as of Thursday, according to organizers.
Texas will lead with an anchor rally at the Capitol in Austin starting at 11am CT. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) and labor activist Dolores Huerta are scheduled to show up at the rally.
Zoom out: Protests against President Trump and his actions have built up to a focused, organized movement this year.
Each of the past seven months have had at least one mass mobilization event against the administration in general or against specific policies.
Driving the news: The Trump White House's push to redraw the congressional map in Texas could add up to five Republican House seats, as Democrats in New York and California have vowed to retaliate.
Redistricting is usually done after the census, next scheduled for 2030. Trump, however, demanded the Census Bureau to begin working on a new census last week.
Republicans are also looking at opportunities to gerrymander Democratic districts in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and Florida — all with an eye to mitigating potential losses in 2026.
The Supreme Court in 2019 eliminated federal guardrails against partisan gerrymandering.
What they're saying: "This fight is bigger than any one state," Texas House Democrats chair Gene Wu said in a statement. "We're defending our entire country from the Trump takeover, and I'm honored to stand with every patriotic American who refuses to let extremists rig the system."
"Trump's latest scheme is as crooked as it gets – redrawing the maps, rewriting who counts, and threatening to throw opposition lawmakers in jail, all to lock in minority rule for a generation," Ezra Levin, Indivisible co-founder and co-executive director, said in a statement.
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