GOP Faces Backlash After Virginia Setback: Fox News Contributor Declares, ‘This Fight Should Never Have Begun’

In a pointed critique, Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer expressed disappointment with the Republican Party after its recent defeat in Virginia’s redistricting conflict, labeling the loss as “foreseeable and avoidable.” This setback comes just ahead of the crucial midterm elections in November.

“Even politics must have rules,” Fleischer cautioned in a social media post last August, emphasizing the importance of structured gerrymandering. “Gerrymandering should be done once every ten years — by all states. Otherwise, there are no rules and it’s the equivalent of all-out, political wars all the time — simply to gain power.”

His earlier warnings resonated painfully for Republican supporters after Virginia voters delivered a decisive victory to Democrats on Monday night. The newly drawn gerrymandered map now features ten districts likely to elect Democrats to the U.S. House, while only one district is expected to lean Republican.

Fleischer, who served as White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, took to X on Tuesday to reiterate his concerns. “Tonight is a good night to repeat what I said last August when Texas started this mid-cycle redistricting chain reaction,” he stated.

“Politics has to be more than a power grab. By either party. There have to be rules that everyone follows,” he continued. “Otherwise, it’s all about power and pretty soon there won’t be much left that holds our nation together.”

The Democrats’ triumph in Virginia unfolds amid an ongoing redistricting battle, initially instigated by former President Donald Trump in Republican-dominated states like Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, and Missouri. Trump encouraged the redrawing of congressional districts before the standard ten-year interval to benefit Republicans. In response, Democrats have countered by altering maps in blue states such as Virginia and California.

Leading up to the vote, Trump warned Virginians that if Democrats secured additional House seats, “they’re going to be making changes at the federal levels.”

“If you’re going to pick a fight, at least win it. The other side will always fight back,” Fleischer remarked on Tuesday. “All this was foreseeable and avoidable. We should not have started this fight.”