Longtime Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen announced Friday he is abandoning his reelection campaign after Tennessee Republicans redrew congressional maps in a way that dismantled his heavily blue 9th District and then broke down crying during a live television interview that same night.
Cohen, who has represented Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District since 2007, appeared on NewsNation’s “CUOMO” with host Chris Cuomo.
As the interview concluded, the 76-year-old congressman became visibly emotional, shedding tears as he reflected on the end of his nearly 20-year career in Congress.
“I’m upset by this. I think it’s really bad for democracy, and I’m a fan of yours. So I don’t like it. And I don’t get the criticism of stand and fight. Why would you fight when they changed the district and there aren’t enough votes for you to win? That’s silly. But I just wanted to give you a couple of minutes to tell people what you think this means for the democracy. Where are we?” Cuomo asked.
Cohen replied, “What the Republicans did, and the Democrats did a little bit in response, is to try to get an advantage this year, mid-decade. Redistricting is almost never done. And Tennessee had a statute making it legal since 1971.”
Cohen blamed the mid-decade redistricting directly on political pressure from President Trump, claiming the Republican governor complied with Trump’s request for an extra GOP seat because he was term-limited and seeking a future appointment in a Trump administration.
“The first thing they had to do was to repeal that statute that had been on the books for 54 years, because Donald Trump called the governor of Tennessee and said, I want one more seat,” Cohen said. “And the governor complied. The governor is term-limited. He didn’t have a job come January. He didn’t want to go back to the heating and air conditioning business. He wants to get a job from Donald Trump. As an ambassador, cabinet member, or agency head. And so he gets that. Trump gets another Republican who’ll be a lackey.”
Cohen began to cry and added, “You know, it’s funny, my press conference today is the most cameras I think I’ve had since the Victoria incident. And here we are again. And I got tears.”
The politician was referring to a woman named Victoria Brink who had claimed to be his biological daughter in 2013, but a paternity test later proved it to be false.
“You’re crying because you know what your service meant to that community, and that they needed it, especially in that state, and it was taken, and was unfair, just like what happened with Victoria,” Cuomo said.
“I’ve got a great district, wonderful people. They’ve supported me so well,” Cohen told Cuomo. “You know, it’s an amazing thing that the African-American community supported me for 20 years as they did. And the Republicans don’t see it, and they just tear it apart because they have no perspective of caring about African-Americans or caring about people getting together and anything nice that happens. It’s a tough sport, and they play it tough.”
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