The fight over Missouri’s congressional districts has taken another turn, with President Donald Trump criticizing the Supreme Court after justices blocked Republicans from using a new map for the November election. Trump argued that the court has repeatedly rejected decisions supporting Missouri’s preferred boundaries.
Donald Trump calls out Supreme Court after Missouri ruling
Donald Trump made the remarks Sunday morning in a post on Truth Social. He said the Supreme Court had now overturned judges “three times” and argued that Missouri deserved what he described as an “election victory.” He also thanked Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe and state residents for what he called their fight for “Fairness and Election Security.”
The dispute centers on a Republican-backed map that would have changed Missouri’s House delegation from a 6-2 Republican split to a potential 7-1 configuration. Republicans approved the new congressional boundaries last year and already used them during the state’s primaries last month. The latest court decision means those lines will not carry over to the general election (via The Hill).
Friday’s Supreme Court action marked the third time the justices had intervened in the dispute. Earlier decisions had also gone against the Republican-backed boundaries, although those rulings were interim rather than final. The legal battle returned to the high court after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a final decision Monday supporting the new map.
The appeals court had argued that forcing Missouri to restore the older districts after candidates had already competed in primaries under the new boundaries was unconstitutional. That decision briefly cleared the way for Republicans to use the 7-1 map during the general election. The Supreme Court’s latest move reversed that path and sent Missouri back to its older congressional lines.
Trump also pointed to his own election results in Missouri while making his case on Truth Social, saying, “I won Missouri BIG” in all three of his presidential races. He added that he couldn’t be “more proud of doing so.”
