A CNN panel descended into chaos when Democratic strategist Tezlyn Figaro claimed Tennessee’s new congressional map is racist, despite the redistricting making a black Republican woman the frontrunner to win the seat currently held by a white Democrat.

CNN Panel Stunned Into Silence

The confrontation erupted Thursday on CNN’s NewsNight when journalist Lydia Moynihan highlighted the apparent contradiction. Tennessee’s Republican-led legislature passed a new congressional map that positions Charlotte Bergmann, a black Republican delegate, as the odds-on favorite to win the state’s ninth district. The seat has been held since 2007 by Steve Cohen, a 76-year-old white Democrat. When Moynihan asked if the situation was ironic given critics call the map racist, Figaro doubled down, insisting the redistricting remains racist despite benefiting a black candidate.

Host Abby Phillip frantically called for a commercial break as the panel erupted in crosstalk. The moment quickly spread across social media, highlighting the twisted logic some activists employ when discussing race and representation. Moynihan’s simple question, asking whether the situation constituted racism, exposed the inconsistency in arguments that focus solely on process rather than outcomes.

Redistricting Splits Memphis District

The new congressional map divides Tennessee’s ninth district, which covers Memphis, into three sections. Each piece contains approximately one third of the city’s black voters. The redistricting also spreads Democratic and black voters from Cohen’s district into more rural, Republican areas stretching hundreds of miles east. Additionally, the map splits up the Nashville metropolitan area, Tennessee’s only other Democratic stronghold. Local Democratic lawmakers compared the redistricting effort to Jim Crow-era voter suppression tactics.

Supreme Court Ruling Backs Tennessee

The redistricting comes just over a week after the Supreme Court ruled that states can almost never consider race when drawing congressional voting district maps. Tennessee Republicans positioned themselves to gain a seat in the November midterm elections. Both Cohen and Bergmann will compete for the redrawn ninth district, which no longer maintains a black majority. The election is scheduled for November 3. Critics argue the map dilutes the state’s only black-majority district, though the practical effect elevates a black Republican candidate over a white Democratic incumbent who has held the seat for nearly two decades.