Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, second-in-command to Gov. Tim Walz in Minnesota, flamed the Laken Riley Act before a cheering crowd at a “Stop Oligarchy” rally headlined by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., over the weekend.

Flanagan, who is trailing behind Rep. Angie Craig in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average for the Democratic senatorial primary, is seeking to succeed retiring Sen. Tina Smith, who also reportedly endorsed her at the Rochester rally.

Flanagan name-dropped Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two anti-ICE activists shot and killed in law enforcement-involved shootings earlier this year, as the Land of 10,000 Lakes descended into anti-immigration enforcement chaos.

“We’ve got to zoom out for a second and we have to talk about how we got here, , because this also wasn’t an accident. Donald Trump ran on an agenda where we knew that ICE would be more powerful,” Flanagan said.

WALZ DEPUTY ERUPTS AT ICE AND FELLOW DEM, TORCHES LAKEN RILEY ACT IN FIERY TWEETSTORM AS SCANDALS PILE UP

“This didn’t just sneak up on us. It wasn’t in the fine print. There were literally gigantic signs that said, mass deportees now. It was not a secret. And the very first vote in the second Trump administration that he brought forward was for the Laken Riley Act.”

Flanagan slammed the law, sponsored by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., as a vessel to strip due process from immigrants and allow for indefinite detention of adults and children.

“It was the green light to give ICE unprecedented power to totally terrorize our communities,” Flanagan went on.

TIM WALZ COMPARES MINNESOTA ICE ACTIONS TO HOLOCAUST AND ANNE FRANK: ‘HIDING IN THEIR HOUSES’

She added that she sees a “straight line” from the Laken Riley Act vote in Congress to unrest in communities like Minneapolis; praising Smith and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., for voting against it.

She criticized Craig for being the only Minnesota Democrat in either chamber to vote for the Laken Riley Act, while Craig said just last week that she now regrets her vote for the law.

Writing in the Minnesota Star Tribune, Craig said she cast her vote at a time she felt her constituents — in the suburbs of Minneapolis and Mankato — largely agreed the Biden administration had “fumbled the immigration issue.”

DEMOCRAT IN KEY SENATE PRIMARY SAYS SHE ‘REGRETS’ VOTE ON LAKEN RILEY ACT, DRAWS GOP BACKLASH

But, Craig added that she believes Trump is going beyond the scope of law to carry out “sweeping immigration raids that have terrorized Minnesotans” and therefore regrets her vote.

At the “Stop Oligarchy” rally, Sanders and Flanagan were joined by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, another key figure in the Minneapolis unrest.

The winner of the Flanagan-Craig bout will face the Republican nominee, as the GOP primary features former Houston Rockets forward Royce White and former NBC Sunday Night Football reporter Michele Tafoya.

While Walz chose Flanagan as his running mate, several outlets including the Minnesota Reformer have reported on an alleged rift between the two stemming back to the aftermath of the governor’s failed vice presidential bid — which that outlet noted prevented Flanagan from rising to the governorship through the line of succession.

Fox News Digital reached out to Flanagan for additional comment and to Walz for any response to his deputy’s remarks.

With six months to go until the midterm elections, President Donald Trump‘s poll numbers remain underwater.

The two-month-long war with Iran, which public opinion surveys indicate is unpopular with many Americans, and a surge in gas prices as a direct result of the fighting have triggered a further slide in Trump’s approval ratings this spring.

The president’s polling woes are a political drag on his party as Republicans work to defend their slim Senate and razor-thin House majorities in this year’s elections. That’s because the presidential approval rating has long been a much-watched barometer of a president’s clout and how well his party may perform in the ensuing midterms.

But the frustrating figures are not a problem unique to Trump — his most recent predecessors in the White House also saw their negative numbers weigh down their parties in midterm showdowns.

WHAT OUR LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SHOWS

Trump stood at 42% approval and 51% disapproval in the latest Fox News national poll, which was conducted April 17–20. Some more recent surveys put the president’s approval rating in the mid to upper 30s, with his disapproval reaching or topping 60%.

The president’s approval is hovering just above 40%, with his disapproval above 56%, in an average of all the most recent national polls, according to a compilation from RealClearPolitics.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

“It may come as cold comfort to the White House, but there’s a tendency for voters to be harsh toward all presidents,” Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps conduct Fox News polls with Democrat Chris Anderson, noted.

He’s not kidding.

Four years ago, as he faced the 2022 midterm elections, then-President Joe Biden was also dealing with sky-high gas prices. His approval rating stood at 45%, with 53% disapproval, in a Fox News poll conducted in late April and early May 2022. And a RealClearPolitics average of all the national polls at that time put Biden’s numbers at 42%-53%.

DEMOCRATS BUILD MIDTERM MOMENTUM BUT REPUBLICANS STILL IN DRIVER’S SEAT IN SENATE MAJORITY BATTLE

Trump’s two most recent two-term predecessors were also well below water six months out from their second midterm elections.

Then-President Barack Obama stood at 43%-52% in early May 2014, and former President George W. Bush was deep into negative territory at 35%-59% at the same time in 2006.

Republicans were shellacked in the 2006 midterms and Democrats were pummeled in the 2014 midterms.

While Biden’s anemic numbers did Democrats no favors in 2022, the party was able to beat expectations and hold their House majority thanks in part to the outsized emphasis on the issue of abortion, following a blockbuster opinion that summer by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority that scrapped the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which had legalized abortion nationwide for a half century.

Former President Joe Biden has endorsed Dan Koh, a candidate running for U.S. Congress in Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District Democratic primary in an open race as Rep. Seth Moulton runs for U.S. Senate.

Koh, who served in various roles during Biden’s White House tenure, issued a video in which Biden said he was calling because he wanted to endorse Koh.

Koh told Biden he is “honored.”

Biden told Koh, “You will be one heck of a congressman,” asserting, “everything you and I fought for, everything we did to help ordinary people is in jeopardy now in this administration, so we gotta get ya elected.”

DUFFY BLAMES BIDEN-BUTTIGIEG TEAM FOR SPIRIT AIRLINES COLLAPSE AFTER BLOCKED MERGER

Former Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed Koh last year.

Koh lost a 2018 Democratic congressional primary in Massachusetts by a razor-thin margin.

TRUMP DOJ REPORT LAYS BARE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S ALLEGED ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIAS

Biden also recently endorsed Keisha Lance Bottoms for Georgia governor.

KAMALA HARRIS-ENDORSED CANDIDATE IN HOT SEAT FOR MILLION-DOLLAR DC HOME HUNDREDS OF MILES OUTSIDE DISTRICT

Bottoms, who also served in Biden’s administration, had previously served as Atlanta mayor.

The Supreme Court on Monday temporarily blocked a federal appeals court ruling that would have sharply restricted access to the abortion pill, restoring, for now, the ability of patients to obtain the drug through telehealth, mail and pharmacies.

The order signed by Justice Samuel Alito temporarily allows women seeking abortions to obtain the pill without an in-person visit to a doctor, a temporary legal victory for abortion activists.

A federal appeals court had imposed new restrictions on the abortion pill last week.

“It is good to see SCOTUS issue this stay to immediately restore access by mail to mifepristone,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, responding to the ruling on X. “But this fight is just beginning.”

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT BLOCKS MAILING OF ABORTION PILLS IN RULING WITH NATIONWIDE EFFECT

“We will stop at nothing to prevent the Republicans from putting a national abortion ban into effect,” he added.

The majority of abortions in the United States are obtained through medications, usually a combination of mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol. The availability of those drugs has blunted the impact of abortion bans that many Republican-led states have sought to enforce since a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Louisiana sued to restrict access to mifepristone, asserting that its availability undermined the ban there.

NEW YORK GOV. HOCHUL SIGNS LAW PROTECTING ABORTION PILL PRESCRIBERS AFTER DOCTOR INDICTED IN LOUISIANA

The administrative stay remains in effect until at least May 11 at 5 p.m., giving the state time to respond to requests for a longer pause, and for the high court to take up the case on the merits.

“This ruling is not final — keep watching,” Center for Reproductive Rights President and CEO Nancy Northup wrote in a statement. “Getting abortion pills through telehealth has been a lifeline for women since Roe v. Wade was overturned. There is no reason people shouldn’t be able to get mifepristone at a pharmacy or through the mail.

“Louisiana’s attempt to restrict access is political and not based in science or medicine. Americans deserve access to this critical drug that has been FDA approved for 25 years.”

EXPERTS SOUND THE ALARM OVER ‘SHOCKING’ STUDY SHOWING SIGNIFICANT RISKS TO WOMEN WHO TAKE ABORTION PILLS

Manufacturers of mifepristone filed emergency appeals asking the Supreme Court to step in.

Kristan Hawkins, president of the anti-abortion group Students for Life, decried Monday’s decision.

“Pill pushers receive every benefit of the doubt, including today, as Justice Alito allows pill traffickers and big pharma to operate temporarily while arguments are sent to the Court,” she said in a statement.

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON TO OFFER ABORTION PILLS ON CAMPUS THIS FALL AFTER STUDENT PRESSURE CAMPAIGN

After Friday’s ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, some groups that prescribe abortion pills by telehealth had planned to switch to misoprostol-only regimens.

Dr. Angel Foster, founder of The Massachusetts Abortion Access Project, said her organization was preparing to send misoprostol only on Monday afternoon but was able to switch back.

“Regardless of what happens with this regulatory issue, we and other groups will continue to provide high-quality abortion care to patients in all 50 states,” she said.

The appeals court decision would have required the Food and Drug Administration to reimpose tighter limits on mifepristone access while litigation continues.

Fox News’ Bill Mears, Shannon Bream and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

New York City Public Schools are under investigation by the Trump administration over allegations that a group of pro-Palestinian teachers sought to sow “hatred towards Jewish students” during classroom instruction.

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights announced its investigation into the nation’s largest public school system nearly two weeks ago after receiving reports that teachers were organizing seminars propping up the Palestinian resistance and labeling Zionists as “genocidal white supremacists.”

“No child should be taught by his or her teachers to hate their peers. Neither should Jewish children be taught that being Jewish somehow makes them inherently guilty or proponents of hate and violence,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement. “Discrimination has no place in our schools, and, unlike the previous Administration, the Trump Administration will not turn a blind eye to antisemitic harassment.”

The Education Department’s investigation into New York City Public Schools comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani enters his fifth month in office. Mamdani has been heavily scrutinized for his anti-Israel rhetoric, having accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing war crimes and saying Palestinians are facing a “genocide” perpetrated by the Jewish state. He also revoked an executive order that blocked New York City officials from boycotting or divesting in Israel and another executive order that expanded the definition of antisemitism.

TRUMP ADMIN WON’T TOLERATE ANTISEMITISM IN SCHOOLS, SAYS LEO TERRELL AS NYC SCHOOLS UNDER MICROSCOPE

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office.

At the center of the Education Department’s investigation is a group of educators known as NYC Educators for Palestine. The group’s mission statement centers on the belief that “education should be a tool for liberation not occupation” and that teachers should work “both inside and outside the classroom” to achieve Palestinian justice.

The Education Department noted the group’s teaching seminars focused on “Palestinian, Zionism, and Resistance” as a potential Title VI violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. During these seminars, which were taught to children as young as 5, the educators focused on the “contemporary and historical Palestinian resistance.” Complaints alleged that the seminars depicted Zionists as “genocidal white supremacists” and that it gave credence to support Hamas and its “martyrs.”

‘ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT’ SECTION OF STUDY GUIDE FOR NEW YORK HIGH SCHOOLERS DRAWS OUTRAGE

NYC Educators for Palestine also organized a “Teach-In for Palestine” set for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The “teach-in” was advertised for students as young as 6.

Fox News Digital reached out to NYC Educators for Palestine for comment.

A spokesperson for New York City Public Schools denied the group’s affiliation with the school district.

JEWISH STUDENTS ‘SCARED’ AFTER MAMDANI WINS NYC MAYOR RACE, CALLING IT ‘HUGE BLOW’

“The group referenced is not connected to New York City Public Schools,” a spokesperson said.

But a parent told Fox News that it seemed teachers were “so radicalized and so focused on sending messages like this [pro-Palestine] rather than focusing on really crucial skills like literacy and critical thinking.”

The Education Department’s investigation into New York City Public Schools is just the latest investigation into allegations of antisemitism running rampant in public school districts across the country in the wake of the Gaza war.

Last August, the Trump administration launched an investigation into Baltimore City Public Schools for alleged antisemitic harassment. The investigation is still ongoing.

More than 60 colleges and higher education institutions have been notified by the Trump administration of pending investigations into the schools’ failures to properly address antisemitism on campus.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down on his position to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after agitators protested agents outside a Brooklyn hospital over the weekend.

The protest occurred while an illegal immigrant was receiving treatment over the weekend for injuries sustained while allegedly attempting to attack authorities.

Mamdani, a frequent critic of ICE and the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, voiced his opposition after a video circulated online showing a New York police officer throwing a protester to the ground outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Mamdani stated there was no coordination between the NYPD and ICE, noting that officers were specifically responding to the protest outside the hospital.

SOCIALIST MAYOR MAMDANI BASHES ICE AFTER CHAOTIC PROTEST LEADS TO ARRESTS: ‘CRUEL AND INHUMANE’

“I’ve made it very clear that our laws leave no room for interpretation: our NYPD will not participate in civil immigration enforcement,” he said. “And I’ve also been very clear about my views on ICE raids as a whole. I think they are cruel.”

The mayor then referenced the arrest of Chidozie Wilson Okeke, a Nigerian national who overstayed his visa and has previous arrests for assault and drug possession, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Okeke was detained “by armed federal agents without any active warrant,” Mamdani said. “And this is incredibly concerning. It’s why I’ve said time and again that I believe ICE should be abolished.”

ANTI-ICE DEMONSTRATORS DETAINED AFTER PROTESTING ARREST OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FACING ASSAULT, DRUG CHARGES

According to officials, during the encounter with federal agents, Okeke refused to comply with commands to exit his car and attempted to strike agents with the vehicle. He is accused of being “physically combative” and attempting to punch and elbow agents.

“Our officers followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to make the arrest,” DHS said in a statement.

Following the arrest, Okeke was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center for a medical evaluation. DHS reported that Okeke “remained non-compliant during the medical evaluation, throwing himself to the floor and screaming,” though he was eventually cleared by medical staff.

Okeke originally entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2023 and had been required to leave the country by February 26, 2024.

Video footage shows ICE agents dragging Okeke out of the hospital following his evaluation. During his time inside, a crowd of anti-ICE protesters gathered outside. DHS stated that the group damaged several ICE vehicles and assaulted agents, resulting in minor injuries.

Six protesters, Sharon Freystaetter, Presleigh Hayashida, Chloe Sells, Tomas Laster, Jennifer Hansen and Caswell Parker, are all charged with disorderly conduct and second-degree obstructing governmental administration. Additionally, all but Sells are also charged with resisting arrest.

Mamdani emphasized that the U.S. immigration response needs to have “humanity as part of it, as opposed to simply a footnote.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office, as well as ICE and DHS, for further comment.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., used a variation of a common attack on Democrats, turning it on President Donald Trump over the weekend. “Jeffries Derangement Syndrome.”

Sharing a screenshot of a Trump post that called Jeffries “a Low IQ individual” and suggested he be impeached for calling the Supreme Court “illegitimate,” the Democratic leader responded with three words.

“Jeffries Derangement Syndrome,” he said.

The phrase “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is often used by Trump supporters to describe people who vehemently oppose the president, regardless of what he is doing.

JEFFRIES CALLS TRUMP ‘DUMBEST PERSON EVER’ TO SIT AT 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE

This exchange followed a Friday Truth Social post in which the president asserted, “Low IQ Democrat Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, is nothing but a THUG, and he is a danger to our Country!” The post includes a photo of the congressman holding a baseball bat.

DYING FORMER CONGRESSMAN BARNEY FRANK TELLS DEMOCRATS THEIR FAR-LEFT MESSAGING IS COSTING THEM VOTERS

In a Saturday post on X, Jeffries shared a screenshot of the president’s message and mockingly wrote, “Do you need a hug? Be Best.”

Jeffries had used the phrase “illegitimate Supreme Court majority” during remarks at a news conference on Wednesday.

Senate Democrats are launching a “free and fair” elections task force as Republicans struggle to move forward on voter ID and citizenship verification legislation.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus are set to join forces with the likes of former Attorney General Eric Holder, Marc Elias and others for the unit. Its creation came the same day as the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling last week.

That decision will likely supercharge the redistricting arms race already underway in states across the country. The task force’s creation also comes as Republicans have failed to advance the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.

‘NEW DEMOCRAT PARTY’: SENATE GOP SOUNDS OFF ON ‘EXTREME’ GRAHAM PLATNER AS SENATE RACE IN MAINE HEATS UP

“Donald Trump and the Republicans realize that if the election were held fairly, that the likelihood is that they would lose, and we would win, that we would take back the House, take back the Senate,” Schumer said.

“So they are doing all kinds of nefarious things, some of them legal, some of them not so legal, to try and overturn a fair result in an election,” he continued.

Schumer described the task force’s mission as seeking out “election threats,” including actions at the administrative level by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), attacks on the First Amendment, foreign threats and militarization of law enforcement at the polls.

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Its inception is in response to what Democrats say is a “comprehensive effort” by President Donald Trump and his administration to undermine the upcoming election.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in a statement that Trump is “committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters.”

“The Civil Rights Act, National Voting Rights Act and Help America Vote Act all give the Department of Justice full authority to ensure states comply with federal election laws, which mandate accurate state voter rolls,” Jackson said. “This campaign pledge from the President is why millions of Americans sent him back to the White House.”

“The President has also urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform standard of photo ID for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting. Noncitizens voting is a crime,” she continued. “Anyone breaking the law will be held accountable.”

Trump has strongly pushed Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, which would create federal voter ID laws, require proof of citizenship to register to vote and share information on voter rolls with DHS. Democrats say the legislation would disenfranchise millions of Americans.

“Not passing the SAVE AMERICA ACT will lead to the worst results for a political party in the HISTORY of the United States Senate,” Trump said on Truth Social. “An Unrecoverable Death Wish!!! Likewise, the FILIBUSTER – TERMINATE IT NOW!!!”

SENATE GOP RAMS THROUGH BLUEPRINT TO BANKROLL ICE, BORDER PATROL THROUGH END OF TRUMP ERA

But Republicans aren’t unified behind the legislation. The SAVE America Act, or a version of it pushed by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., failed last month when four Republicans joined Democrats to kill it.

He has also called on Republicans to nationalize elections, and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin didn’t rule out sending federal immigration agents to polling places in the fall during his confirmation hearing earlier this year.

It’s part of what Democrats charge is a concerted effort to tip the scales in the upcoming elections.

“Donald Trump doesn’t think he did too much in 2020 to steal the election,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. “He thinks he did too little. And so that’s why you are seeing, already, a comprehensive effort to try to rig and steal the fall election.”

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s ongoing hospitalization is related to serious health repercussions of his heroism in New York City following the 9/11 terror attacks nearly 25 years ago, and the Republican stalwart’s condition appears to be improving, Fox News Digital has learned.

Giuliani was in the final year of his two-term mayorship when terrorists hijacked airliners and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, killing thousands. He was two blocks away when the first tower fell at 9:59 a.m. ET on that otherwise sunny Tuesday and felt the effects first-hand, close-up.

GIULIANI BLASTS DE BLASIO’S TENURE AS MAYOR

Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman told Fox News Digital on Monday that the 81-year-old ex-mayor and former presidential candidate is currently recovering from pneumonia and still being monitored at a Florida hospital as a “precautionary measure.”

“On September 11, Mayor Giuliani ran toward the towers to help those in need, which led to a restrictive airway disease diagnosis,” Goodman said in a statement he also later posted to X.

DEMOCRATS WHO RALLIED AT ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS MOCKED FOR CHEERING KING CHARLES IN CONGRESS

“This disease adds complications to any emerging respiratory issue, and the virus quickly overwhelmed his body, requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain his blood pressure.”

Sometimes called “World Trade Center Cough,” restrictive airway disease is a lung condition caused by inhalation of heavily-alkaline dust from materials like concrete, as well as asbestos and glass that was pulverized when the towers collapsed and shrouded about one-fifth of Manhattan Island in some level of dust-induced darkness.

Thousands of first responders have battled or died from the disease, leading famous Tri-State figures like comedian Jon Stewart to publicly take up the mantle of their cause.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Goodman said Monday that Giuliani is now breathing on his own and has primary medical providers at his side.

“Mayor Giuliani is the ultimate fighter — as he has demonstrated throughout his life — and he is winning this battle,” he said.

“His family deeply appreciates the outpouring of love and support. The mayor believes in the power of prayer, and we are feeling that strength today. He remains in critical but stable condition. Keep the prayers coming.”

Giuliani is reportedly being treated at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Fox News’ Heather Lacy contributed to this report.

Tennessee’s redistricting special legislative session Tuesday will weigh a map that will potentially turn the state’s lone blue district red before the 2026 midterms.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who is term-limited and leaving office after this year, moved quickly to call the special session after a conversation last week with President Donald Trump on the heels of the landmark Supreme Court decision that found race should not be used to dictate the drawing of legislative district maps.

“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” Lee wrote in a statement, announcing the session after the Trump call, expressing urgency “to comply with mandatory election qualifying timelines” and make sure a new map is “enacted as soon as possible.”

“After consultation with the Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House, Attorney General, and Secretary of State, I believe the General Assembly has a responsibility to review the map and ensure it remains fair, legal, and defensible.”

REDISTRICTING BATTLES BREWING ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS PARTIES COMPETE FOR POWER AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

Notably, the map was presented Wednesday by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who is the leading candidate to succeed Gov. Lee, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais.

“I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis,” Blackburn wrote on X, sharing an image of the new Tennessee map that could give Republicans a 9-0 House delegation edge. “It’s essential to cement @realDonaldTrump’s agenda and the Golden Age of America.

“I’ve vowed to keep Tennessee a red state, and as Governor, I’ll do everything I can to make this map a reality.”

While Lee said he made the decision after consulting with Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Secretary of State Tre Hargett, he also got encouragement from Blackburn and Trump after the Supreme Court ruling.

“I had a very good conversation with Governor Bill Lee, of Tennessee, this morning, wherein he stated that he would work hard to correct the unconstitutional flaw in the Congressional Maps of the Great State of Tennessee,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social one day after Blackburn’s post and a day before Lee’s special session announcement. “Likewise, all of the other Political Representatives of Tennessee have promised to do so. This should give us one extra seat, and help Save our Country from the Radical Left Democrats, and their Country destroying Policies of High Tax, Open Borders, Transgender Mutilization, Defunding the Police, ICE, and Border Patrol, No Voter ID, Soft on Crime, and so much more.”

Louisiana v. Callais struck down a Louisiana congressional map that created a second majority-Black district and narrowed the use of race in redistricting under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling has prompted other Republican-led states in the South, including Alabama, to revisit congressional maps before the midterms.

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., the Democrat from Memphis who will see his district potentially flip to a more Republican-friendly one, acknowledged the new map might get him voted out of Congress because Memphis’ Black voter base will not be isolated from more rural surrounding areas.

LOUISIANA SUSPENDS CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARIES IN WAKE OF SUPREME COURT GERRYMANDERING RULING

“This transparent effort to create a seat for a member of Congress who will rubber stamp Trump’s increasingly bizarre and dangerous agenda will also dilute the Black vote in Tennessee to the point of irrelevance,” Cohen wrote in a statement. “I have been consulting with voting rights lawyers and other experts to fight this move with every option available, political and legal. The filing deadline for candidates for the 120th Congress has passed. Were the General Assembly to change the district maps, candidates already seeking office in one district could find themselves in the absurd situation of running in another – a wholesale injustice to voters and a mockery of democracy.”

“Republican state lawmakers clearly have the votes to make this Machiavellian move,” he added. “I hope fairness is part of their consideration and that they abandon it.”

Blackburn fired back Monday at Cohen’s righteous indignation.

THE TENNESSEE ‘WALTZ’: REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS DANCE AROUND SPECIAL ELECTION RESULTS MEANING

“Since the ruling on Wednesday, liberals have bemoaned that redrawing the lines would create a ‘lack of representation,’” Blackburn wrote on X. “It’s funny, you’ve never heard a liberal bemoan the lack of conservative representation in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Hawaii, or Delaware.”

Cohen acknowledged the new map might be inevitable, potentially framing the fight as a near-term one to delay its use after the midterms.

“I think maybe it can be put off until 2028, but after 2028, it’s toast,” Cohen told WMC Action News 5 in Memphis on Sunday.

He compared the potential Memphis changes to the redrawing of Nashville’s district after the 2020 census, saying Nashville was split among three districts and left without a member of Congress based in the city.

Republican lawmakers, who control the General Assembly, will have the majority say in the special session that begins Tuesday.

“Tennesseans have made it clear they want strong borders, a strong economy, and common-sense leadership – not the failed policies coming from Washington Democrats,” state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Williamson County, told WMC.

“We have been presented with a critical opportunity to send another Tennessee Republican to Washington who will support President Trump and prevent radical Democrat Hakeem Jeffries from becoming the next speaker. We’re not going to let that opportunity slip.”