The DOJ sued Gavin Newsom for running an illegal redistricting scheme in California.
Now Newsom is on Fox News telling Ron DeSantis he is making a "bad mistake" on redistricting.
The man the Justice Department took to court over gerrymandering wants to give Florida advice.
What DeSantis Actually Did
DeSantis unveiled a new congressional map for Florida that would flip four Democratic seats to Republicans – converting a 20-7 Republican advantage into a 24-4 landslide.
The map targets specific Democratic incumbents: Tampa-area Rep. Kathy Castor and Orlando-area Rep. Darren Soto, along with two South Florida districts currently held by Democrats.
DeSantis made his case plainly.
"Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we've been fighting for fair representation ever since," he told Fox News Digital. "Our new map for 2026 makes good on my promise to conduct mid-decade redistricting, and it more fairly represents the makeup of Florida today."
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2048914919911788806?s=20
He is not wrong.
Florida's Republican registration advantage has grown to 1.5 million voters since the current maps were drawn.
The state added 2 million residents since the 2020 census.
The maps are lopsided – just not in the direction Democrats want you to believe.
The Audacity of a Man Whose Map Got Sued by DOJ
Newsom called the Florida push a "bad mistake" and predicted a "big blue wave" would wash away Republican incumbents stretched across redrawn districts.
"Trump got beat at his own game," he said.
Let that claim marinate for a moment.
Newsom spent 2025 doing everything he accused Republicans of doing – and doing it more flagrantly.
He scrapped California's independent redistricting commission, the one California voters created specifically to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
Voters approved that commission in 2010 with 60% support.
Newsom killed it with a ballot measure he called the "Election Rigging Response Act" – which is perhaps the most honest thing he has ever named.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi did not mince words when the DOJ filed suit.
"California's redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process," Bondi said. "Governor Newsom's attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand."
https://twitter.com/RepHageman/status/2049163537314959610?s=20
The Justice Department's charge: Newsom's maps were racially gerrymandered – drawing lines based on race to manufacture Democratic seats.
Newsom Is Giving Advice While His State Collapses
The RNC had the exact right response to Newsom's comments.
"Gavin Newsom is attempting to spin fantasies about a 'blue wave' after Democrats dumped tens of millions into a gerrymandering scheme to barely crawl across the finish line with a three-point margin in a state Abigail Spanberger won by 15," RNC National Press Secretary Kiersten Pels said.
Virginia – the state Democrats are celebrating as a redistricting triumph – cost a fortune to flip and still only produced a three-point margin.
Meanwhile, Newsom is offering strategic counsel to a governor running a state that people actually want to live in.
Los Angeles County just recorded the largest population decline of any county in the United States – 54,000 residents gone in a single year.
Since 2020, nearly 1.4 million people have fled California's major counties for other states.
California now leads the nation in homelessness, poverty rate, illegal immigrant population, and residents leaving.
Gas costs $5.89 per gallon in California right now.
https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/2048718813366259882?s=20
Florida Republicans are not taking strategy tips from the man who turned the Golden State into a cautionary tale.
What Happens Next
Florida's Republican-majority legislature is expected to pass DeSantis's map quickly.
Democrats have already promised lawsuits, pointing to the state's Fair Districts Amendment banning partisan gerrymandering.
But DeSantis has a DeSantis-appointed Florida Supreme Court – six of seven justices his picks – that already gutted one key provision of that amendment last year.
Even if voters swing 10 points toward Democrats from 2024 levels, Republicans would still hold 23 of those 24 seats under the new map.
That is not a gerrymander waiting to collapse.
That is a fortress built in a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats by 1.5 million voters.
Newsom wants DeSantis to believe this is a trap.
But the man whose state just lost 54,000 people from a single county in a single year does not get to lecture anyone about political traps.
He is the trap.
Sources:
- Leo Briceno, "Newsom taunts Trump with multiple jabs as Florida redistricting fight ramps up," Fox News, April 27, 2026.
- "Ron DeSantis unveils new Florida congressional map that would give the GOP an extra four seats," Fox News Digital, April 27, 2026.
- "Justice Department Sues Governor Gavin Newsom for California's Race-Based Redistricting Plan," U.S. Department of Justice, January 14, 2026.
- "DeSantis unveils gerrymandered Florida map as redistricting war rages," Axios, April 27, 2026.
- "Shocking New Numbers Show More People Have Fled California Than Previously Known," The Gateway Pundit, March 2026.
