New York Times roasted for declaring gerrymandering is ‘a tactic long used by the Republican Party’
'As we well know, gerrymandering has been studiously avoided by virtuous Democrats,' Mark Hemingway joked
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The New York Times was mocked Thursday for suggesting gerrymandering has solely been employed by Republicans despite a long history of both parties using the tactic.
"Facing high stakes in the next midterms, New York Democrats are considering a tactic long used by the Republican Party: gerrymandering," the Times tweeted to promote a podcast about the topic.
Gerrymandering is the process of drawing electoral districts in a way that benefits a political party, such as by packing a large amount of one party's supporters in a particular district to lessen their influence in other districts.
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The Times itself reported that Republican and Democrats "both" partake in gerrymandering in 2013.
Journalist T. Becket Adams responded to the Times, "Lmao at the idea of democrats dusting off some old books and going, ‘gerrymandering, gerrymandering ... what is it and how does it work??’"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"As we well know, gerrymandering has been studiously avoided by virtuous Democrats," RealClearInvestigations senior writer Mark Hemingway sarcastically added.
Red State editor Joe Cunningham simply wrote, "This tweet is f-----g hilarious."
"It was Rep. Phil Burton (D-Calif.) who, after the 1980 census, pioneered the use of computer-assisted map drawing to aide Democrats in map-making," journalist David Mark wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Many prominent Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have been critical of gerrymandering despite being linked to the practice.
Earlier this year, Federal Elections Commission (FEC) filings revealed a political action committee aligned with Pelosi funneled $300,000 to a Democratic redistricting group led by former Attorney General Eric Holder. At the time, the Washington Free Beacon reported Holder's group would be at the forefront of left-wing gerrymandering efforts aimed at creating favorable maps for Democratic candidates during this year's redistricting cycle.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Democrats in Maryland have recently been accused of unfairly drawing district maps at the expense of Republicans.
Many others took to Twitter to mock the Times’ tweet:
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Houston Keene and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.