Schwarzenegger Slams CNN’s Tapper, Highlights “Extreme Gerrymandering” in Blue States

LOS ANGELES (VINnews) — Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sharply rebuked CNN anchor Jake Tapper during a recent interview, accusing blue states of engaging in “extreme gerrymandering” that sidelines Republican representation in Congress. Schwarzenegger, a Republican known for his moderate stance, pushed back against Tapper’s suggestion that gerrymandering is primarily a Republican issue, arguing that the practice has been a bipartisan problem for centuries.

“No, Jake. There has been gerrymandering going on for 200 years,” Schwarzenegger said, rejecting Tapper’s framing of the issue as a Republican-led initiative.

Schwarzenegger pointed to Massachusetts and New Mexico as stark examples of gerrymandering in Democratic-controlled states. “In a state like Massachusetts, it has like 40% of the people voting for Trump, they have zero representatives,” he said. “The Republican Party has zero representatives sent to the House. Think about that.”

He continued, citing New Mexico, where “45% of the people voted for Trump and vote Republican, and zero is sent to the House, zero representatives from the Republican Party.”

Schwarzenegger’s comments come amid ongoing national debates over electoral fairness and redistricting practices. Gerrymandering, the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor one political party, has long been a contentious issue in American politics. Critics argue it distorts democratic representation, while defenders claim it’s a standard political strategy.

The former governor’s remarks bring to the forefront the challenges facing Republicans in some heavily Democratic states, where district maps are often drawn to concentrate conservative voters into fewer districts, diluting their overall influence. Schwarzenegger, who has advocated for redistricting reform in the past, did not propose specific solutions during the exchange but emphasized the need for a broader acknowledgment of the issue’s bipartisan history.