Adam Serwer: Now, This Is Rigged

In this episode of The Bulwark, host Tim Miller interviews Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of *The Cruelty is the Point*, to dissect the recent Supreme Court decision undermining the Voting Rights Act and its implications for racial justice in America. Serwer frames the discussion around the historical figure James Jackson Kilpatrick, a former segregationist who transitioned from overt racism to a more subtle, 'colorblind' ideology that enabled de facto segregation without explicit discrimination. He argues the current court’s reasoning—treating racial discrimination as a liberty and anti-discrimination efforts as oppressive—is a direct continuation of Kilpatrick’s reactionary philosophy. The conversation traces how the Republican Party’s shift from strategic moderation under Bush to unapologetic racial populism under Trump has emboldened state-level efforts like Tennessee’s redistricting of Shelby County, which deliberately dilutes Black voting power. Serwer contends that Trump’s electoral success, despite his overtly racist rhetoric, has removed the political cost of racism, allowing the party to abandon even the pretense of virtue signaling. He critiques both the delusional belief among some voters that Trump is not a racist and the broader failure of liberal institutions to counter the weaponization of 'wokeness' as a cultural bogeyman, which masked the real ideological agenda of white nationalist policies. The episode ends on a note of sobering realism: democracy requires accountability, and voters who chose Trump despite his agenda are now facing the consequences of their choices.