Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) got emotional during a Friday night interview after dropping his reelection bid due to redistricting in Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Cohen<\/a> joined NewsNation\u2019s Chris Cuomo following Cohen\u2019s announcement that he\u2019s dropping a reelection bid to represent Tennessee\u2019s ninth district, which he\u2019s represented since 2007. The move comes after redistricting in the state, which Democrats have blasted as political gerrymandering.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m upset by this. I think it\u2019s really bad for the democracy, and I\u2019m a fan of yours. So I don\u2019t like it. And I don\u2019t get the criticism of stand and fight. Why would you fight when they changed the district and there aren\u2019t enough votes for you to win? That\u2019s 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?\u201d Cuomo told Cohen.<\/p>\n Cohen explained:<\/p>\n 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. 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. And the governor complied. The governor\u2019s term limited. He didn\u2019t have a job come January. He didn\u2019t want to go back to the heating and air conditioning business. He wants to get a job from Donald Trump. As an ambassador or cabinet member or agency head. And so he gets that. Trump gets another Republican who\u2019ll be a lackey.<\/p>\n Cohen got emotional and shed some tears as the interview wrapped up.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, it\u2019s funny, my press conference today is the most cameras I think I\u2019ve had since the Victoria incident. And here we are again. And I got tears,\u201d the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n He was referring to an incident<\/a> where he at one point claimed<\/a> a woman named Victoria Brink was his biological daughter, only for a paternity test to later prove this not to be true.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re 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,\u201d Cuomo told Cohen.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got a great district, wonderful people. They\u2019ve supported me so well,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s amazing thing that African-American community supported me for 20 years like they did. And the Republicans don\u2019t 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\u2019s a tough sport and they play it tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch above via NewsNation<\/a>.<\/p>\n