Tags: van orden | wisconsin | obama | dems | texas | map

Rep. Van Orden to Newsmax: Obama 'Must Be Joking'

By    |   Thursday, 07 August 2025 10:50 AM EDT

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., told Newsmax on Thursday that Barack Obama "must be joking" when the former president accused Texas Republicans of "a power grab" with their redistricting efforts.

Obama took to X on Tuesday and said, "We can't lose focus on what matters – right now, Republicans in Texas are trying to gerrymander district lines to unfairly win five seats in next year's midterm elections. This is a power grab that undermines our democracy."

While appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Van Orden was asked about Obama's accusation.

"When I saw that initially, I'm like, 'You've got to be joking. This is unbelievable,'" he told co-hosts Sharla McBride and Marc Lotter. "If anyone has not taken the time to look at the Illinois congressional maps, please do so. Or go to a psychologist and look for some Rorschach blob statements. It's unbelievable."

Democrats in the Texas House left the state Sunday in a last-resort bid to block new congressional maps sought by President Donald Trump that would give Republicans a better chance of preserving their narrow U.S. House majority in the 2026 midterm elections.

Many of the Texas Democrats were bound for Illinois, which Obama once represented in the U.S. Senate.

Van Orden explained that Illinois, under Gov. JB Pritzker, "is one of the most gerrymandered states in the entire country."

"For the Texas delegation, Democratic delegation to go there is comically stupid to try to highlight gerrymandering," Van Orden said. "Well, I guess it's accurate. They did go to a state where they should be highlighting gerrymandering, but here's why they're so upset.

"The Democrat Party has been gerrymandering states around the country for an incredible period of time, and that's why they have so much power right now. So what the Republicans in Texas are doing is they're just making sure that the congressional seats reflect the electorate. That's exactly what they're supposed to be doing."

Lotter asked Van Order what was "the next big challenge" for Congress to address following the summer recess.

"From my perspective, because I'm on the ag [agriculture] committee, it's getting farm bill 2.0 done. We got to knock that stuff out. We have to take care of our farmers. Our farmers feed us.

"But again, under Donald Trump's leadership, these 200 days are just remarkable in the history of the United States of America. And I'm incredibly proud to stand behind Donald Trump ... getting one of my bills signed and making sure that we can move forward as a nation."

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Charlie McCarthy

Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., told Newsmax on Thursday that Barack Obama "must be joking" when the former president accused Texas Republicans of "a power grab" with their redistricting efforts.
van orden, wisconsin, obama, dems, texas, map
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2025-50-07
Thursday, 07 August 2025 10:50 AM
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