Trump Gets Instant Karma by Texas Judge He Appointed!!! - The MeidasTouch Podcast

The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode: Trump Gets Instant Karma by Texas Judge He Appointed!!!

Date: November 19, 2025
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas

Episode Overview

This episode delves into a seismic judicial development in Texas: a three-judge federal panel, including a Trump-appointed judge, has struck down Texas Republicans’ attempted gerrymander for the 2026 congressional elections. The ruling, penned by Judge Jeffrey Brown—appointed by Trump in 2019—declares the state’s redistricting efforts unlawful and racially discriminatory. The Meiselas brothers unpack the legal reasoning, the political backfire for Republicans, and the national implications, all while highlighting the irony and instant karma for Trump and his allies.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Texas Gerrymandering Ruling Explained

[01:46–08:46]

A federal court blocked Texas Republicans from using a new congressional map for 2026, citing illegal and racially discriminatory gerrymandering.
Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, authored the opinion—making it hard for Trump to dismiss the decision as liberal activism.
The court ordered Texas to revert to its previous 2021 map.
Notable Quote:
- Ben: “I mean, he stuck the dagger and twisted it in Donald Trump right there. So he [the judge] quotes Chief Justice John Roberts as saying, ‘The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.’” [03:27]

2. The Role of Race vs. Partisanship

[03:30–08:30]

Evidence shows redistricting was pursued on racial grounds, not just party advantage.
Trump personally pressured Texas officials to redraw the map for five more Republican seats, but the DOJ (Department of Justice) funneled the effort through claims about “coalition” (multi-minority) districts.
DOJ’s letter only targeted majority nonwhite districts, not white Democratic ones, highlighting racial, not solely partisan, intent.
Texas complied, dissolving these targeted coalition districts.
Key Quote from the opinion (read by Ben):
- “Plaintiff groups are likely to prove at trial that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map. So we preliminarily enjoin what Texas did here.” [08:15]

3. Legal Foundations of the Ruling

[10:32–14:00]

The court detailed three routes to challenge racial discrimination in redistricting:
1. Racial Gerrymandering Claim: Violations under the 14th and 15th Amendments if race is the predominant factor.
2. Intentional Vote Dilution: Proving purposeful disenfranchisement of minority voters.
3. Effects-Based Dilution (Gingles Claim): Focusing on racially dilutive results, regardless of intent, under the Voting Rights Act.
The court’s main “smoking gun” evidence was the DOJ letter essentially instructing redistricting on the basis of race.
The judge harshly criticized the DOJ letter:
- “It contains so many factual, legal and typographical errors… described [by Texas AG’s attorneys as] legally unsound, baseless, erroneous, ham-fisted and a mess.” [12:25]

4. National Ripple Effects & Immediate Blowback

[13:35–15:40]

The ruling does not impact California’s Prop 50 mid-decade redistricting, meaning California will pick up five seats while Texas cannot, putting Republicans at a national disadvantage.
California Republican Kevin Kiley slams the GOP leadership for the failed scheme and calls out Speaker Mike Johnson (referred to as “MAGA Mike”) for mishandling the redistricting push.
- Quote:
  - “It was a total failure of the leadership MAGA Mike Johnson to let this happen… it's going to be bad for our own members, bad for the House, bad for representation across the country.” [14:35]
Governor Gavin Newsom mocks Trump in Trumpian terms, calling him "piggy" in retaliation for Trump's past name-calling.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Ben, on the Trump judge’s critique:
- “Even attorneys employed by the Texas Attorney General who professes to be a political ally of the Trump administration describe the DOJ letter as legally unsound, baseless, erroneous, ham-fisted and a mess.” [12:20]
On the political backlash:
- “MAGA Mike had to keep it going and it backfired in their face.” [14:50]
On the ruling’s irony:
- “Donald Trump can’t be like, oh, wacko liberal judge. You appointed this guy, Donald, in 2019.” [03:10]

Important Timestamps

[01:46] – Summary of the Texas court decision and introduction to Judge Jeffrey Brown’s ruling.
[03:30] – Detailed reading of the court’s reasoning—focus on racial versus partisan motives.
[08:15] – “Smoking gun” DOJ letter implicated as the basis for the racial gerrymandering finding.
[10:32] – Legal breakdown: three kinds of racial discrimination claims in redistricting.
[12:25] – Harsh criticism by Judge Brown of the DOJ’s procedural and legal errors.
[14:35] – National political consequences and GOP frustration.
[15:20] – Governor Newsom’s taunt of Trump as “quiet piggy.”

Tone and Style

The Meiselas brothers blend legal analysis with biting humor, directness, and clear democratic values. Their style is energetic, irreverent, and unsparing—especially in underscoring the irony that a Trump-appointed judge delivered a fatal blow to Trump’s electoral strategy. They mix close readings of the legal opinion with running commentary on the absurdity of the situation, occasional mockery of Trump and the GOP, and a focus on larger implications for democracy.

Summary Takeaway

This episode spotlights a dramatic twist in American political maneuvering: a judge appointed by Trump himself derails a major Republican gerrymandering effort in Texas, citing illegal racial discrimination. The “karma” is not just poetic—it’s legal and immediate, undermining GOP plans nationwide and drawing rare union in criticism from both Democrats and disillusioned Republicans. The brothers’ coverage is equal parts educational, incisive, and entertaining, making clear that, sometimes, the architect of a strategy is undone by their own design.

Transcript

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Of three federal judges in Texas, including a Trump appointee, just blocked Texas Republicans from using their new gerrymandered congressional map in 2026, ruling that it was an illegal, racially gerrymandered map and ordering Texas to revert to its 2021 map as Trump's redistricting power grab collapses. The author of this massive opinion is a federal judge named Judge Jeffrey Brown. Writing for the majority here, this three judge panel. It's a three judge panel because that's the type of panel that hears challenges to gerrymandering, challenges under the Voting Rights Act. And Judge Jeffrey Brown, appointed by Donald Trump in 2019, ruled that Trump and Governor Abbott's efforts to gerrymander Texas to pick up five congressional seats is unlawful. It was a powerful opinion. What you need to note as well, this has no impact on California's Prop 50 mid decade redistricting. So as it stands right now, California, based on the popular referendum of the people that was not an unlawfully racially gerrymandered proposition will get to pick up five congressional seats. And the Texas gerrymandered map has been deemed to be unlawful and racist. And it was a Trump judge who, who drafted the opinion. So Donald Trump can't be like, oh, wacko liberal judge. You appointed this guy, Donald in 2019. Judge Jeffrey Brown, I want to go through with you what Judge Jeffrey Brown, the Trump appointed judge in Texas wrote when he struck down the governor rabbit, Donald Trump mid decade gerrymander in Texas. So the judge starts off by quoting Chief Justice John Roberts, himself a right wing chief judge on the United States Supreme Court. Because clearly this Trump appointed judge was basically speaking to the chief judge and saying, if this case ever gets to you, I'm quoting you here about what you said. This is why this Trump judge wanted to make this opinion stick. I mean, he stuck the dagger and twisted it in Donald Trump right there. So he quotes Chief Justice John Roberts as saying, the way to stop, stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race. And the Trump appointed judge finds that Donald Trump and Governor Abbott discriminated on the basis of race when they engaged in an unlawful gerrymander of Texas. Here's what the opinion says. The public perception of this case is that it's about politics. To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 map, but it was much more than just politics. The substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered that 2025 map. Here's why. Earlier this year, President Trump began urging Texas to redraw its U.S. house map to create five additional Republican seats. Lawmakers reportedly met that request to redistrict on purely partisan grounds with apprehension when the governor announced his intent to call a special legislative session. He didn't even place redistricting on the legislative agenda. But when the Trump administration reframed its request as a demand to redistrict congressional seats based on their racial makeup, Texas lawmakers immediately jumped on board. On July 7, Harmeet Dillon, the head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, sent a letter to the Governor and Attorney General of Texas making the legally incorrect assertion that four congressional districts in Texas were, were, quote, unconstitutional because they were, quote, coalition districts, majority nonwhite districts in which no single racial group constituted a 50% majority. In the letter, the DOJ threatened legal action if Texas didn't immediately dismantle and redraw these districts, a threat based entirely on their racial makeup. Notably, the DOJ letter targeted only majority non white districts. Any mention of majority white Democrat districts, which DOJ presumably would have also targeted if its aims were partisan rather than racial, was conspicuously absent. Two days later, citing the DOJ letter, the Governor Governor Abbott added redistricting to the special sessions legislative agenda. In doing so, the governor explicitly directed the legislature to draw a new U.S. house map to resolve DOJ's concerns. In other words, the the governor explicitly directed the legislature to redistrict based on race on racism. In press appearances, the Governor plainly and expressly disavowed any partisan objective and instead repeatedly stated that his goal was to eliminate coalition districts and create new majority Hispanic districts. The legislature adopted those racial objectives. The redistricting bill sponsors made numerous statements that suggesting that they had intentionally manipulated the district lines to create more majority Hispanic and majority black districts. The bill's sponsor statement suggests they adopted those changes because such a map would be an easier sell than a purely partisan one. The speaker of the House also issued a press release celebrating that the Bill satisfactorily addressed DOJ's concerns. Other high ranking legislators stated in media interviews and that the Legislature had redistricted not for the political goal goal of appeasing President Trump nor of gaining five Republican U.S. house seats, but to achieve the DOJ's racial goal of eliminating coalition districts. The map ultimately passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, the 2025 map achieved all but one of the racial objectives that the DOJ demanded. The Legislature dismantled and left unrecognizable not only all of the districts DOJ identified in the letter, but also several other quote coalition districts around the state. For these and other reasons, the plaintiff groups are likely to prove at trial that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map. So we preliminarily enjoin what Texas did here and it blocked Texas's map As the chilly days of fall roll in.