Bennie Thompson chaired the January 6 Committee and spent two years deciding which Americans were a threat to democracy.
Last week the Supreme Court handed down a ruling that threatens something much closer to home.
Thompson went on Al Sharpton's show and told the country exactly what he plans to do about it.
How Louisiana v. Callais Ended Sixty Years of Racial Gerrymandering Under the Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in Louisiana v. Callais that racial gerrymandering under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional as it has been practiced for six decades.
Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion.
He was blunt: the Voting Rights Act "was designed to enforce the Constitution – not collide with it."
The ruling ends court-ordered race-based map drawing across the South.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves told the Daily Caller this week he knows exactly what it means for Thompson's district.
"We know that Mississippi's majority-minority district was drawn race consciously," Reeves said.
He announced a special session will convene by May 20 – and confirmed he has the authority to expand that call to include congressional redistricting.
"I anticipate that the Mississippi Legislature certainly will reevaluate our state's congressional map at the earliest opportunity," Reeves said.
Then he said the part Democrats never want said out loud.
Asked directly whether the ACLU, NAACP, and Southern Poverty Law Center used the Voting Rights Act as a pretext to manufacture Democrat-safe seats across the South, Reeves answered: "100%."
Bennie Thompson Admitted His Mississippi District Is at Risk
Representative Bennie Thompson, the former Chair of Pelosi’s sham January 6 Committee, has held Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District since 1993.
His district – 275 miles long, 180 miles wide, carved through the Mississippi Delta – was created specifically because of Section 2.
The exact provision the Supreme Court just ruled has been weaponized for sixty years.
So Thompson went on Al Sharpton's Politics Nation and called the ruling "equivalent to a second Civil War."
Black communities must "resist with every fiber in our body," according to Thompson.
He closed by quoting a South African liberation movement slogan: "a luta continua," the struggle continues.
This is the same Bennie Thompson who said in 2022, on NPR: "I'm a passionate believer that in a democracy you have to follow the rule of law. The law is colorblind."
He said that.
Then the law went colorblind on his district and he called it a civil war.
Thompson admitted to Sharpton his seat is at direct risk.
"No question about it," he said.
Thirty-three years in Congress, never once facing a competitive election – and now the system that built his job is gone.
Mississippi Special Session May 20 Could Redraw Bennie Thompson's District
Mississippi is not alone.
Louisiana suspended its May 16 primaries within 24 hours of the ruling to redraw its maps.
Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida all moved within days.
Analysts estimate the ruling could flip as many as 19 Democrat seats to Republicans across the South – enough to make a Democrat House majority impossible for years.
Here’s what the Voting Rights Act became in practice across the South.
Republican-controlled legislatures were dragged into court and forced – under penalty of federal law – to draw majority-black congressional districts designed to elect Democrats.
Not to protect voters.
To manufacture Democrat seats in states Republicans otherwise controlled top to bottom.
Reeves watched it happen in Mississippi for thirty years and called it exactly what it was: "100% their goal."
The Supreme Court just called it unconstitutional.
Now one of those institutions handed down a ruling he does not like.
And Thompson announced he will fight it with every fiber in his body.
Bennie Thompson weaponized the January 6 Committee to try and destroy his political opponents.
Now his political career is coming to an end with him whining about fairness.
Sources:
- Amber Duke, "EXCLUSIVE: 'Earliest Opportunity' — Gov Opens Door To Redrawing Maps After SCOTUS Nukes Race-Based Districting," The Daily Caller, May 6, 2026.
- Frank Corder, "Thompson says SCOTUS Callais ruling 'equivalent to a second Civil War,'" Magnolia Tribune, May 5, 2026.
- Amy Howe, "In major Voting Rights Act case, Supreme Court strikes down redistricting map challenged as racially discriminatory," SCOTUSblog, April 29, 2026.
- Zachary Stieber, "These states could try to redistrict and add more GOP seats for the 2026 midterms after Supreme Court decision," CBS News, May 1, 2026.
- Eben Novy-Williams, "Republicans Look to Build Their Redistricting War Advantage in Southern States," Time, May 5, 2026.