Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett demanded at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF) on Aug. 7 that Democrats pack the Supreme Court if they regain “control” of the federal government.

Crockett’s comments followed other remarks from Democratic strategist James Carville on “Politics War Room” Aug. 6 for his party to “unilaterally add Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia as states” and “expand the Court to 13 members” if they secure unified control of the federal government in 2028. Crockett suggested in the video posted to the MVAAFF’s YouTube channel on Tuesday that expanding the court was necessary for Democrats to maintain power.

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“If we are going to have some consistency in this country and not allow the pendulum to shift so hard from one side to the other, then once the Democrats get control, they gon’ have to do something,” Crockett said. “It can’t be good enough to say, ‘Well, we’re not causing more harm. We are going to have to do some good.’ If these evil minions can get into position, and I’m talking about evil and unqualified, can get into position and break everything and hurt people, the least we can do if people trust us is if we get in and do half as much to help people.”

“So I am also asking that they get bold, they get bold on that Supreme Court ’cause it needs to be expanded, they get bold on some ethics around the Supreme Court, they get bold about … the voting rights and the filibuster,” she continued. “I’m sorry, but we don’t get no other rights if we don’t have voting rights. The reason right now they are trying to go through Texas and take seats is because we didn’t pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act! The reason Elon [Musk] was able to buy this election is because we didn’t pass the Freedom to Vote Act!”

Texas’ redistricting plan could give Republicans up to five seats in the House of Representatives.

“Right now, we are sitting up here trying to figure out, ‘Well, what we gon’ do? They gon’ take the five seats. They gon’ take the five seats!’ We allowed them to play us on the Supreme Court!” Crockett said. “So we got this crooked Supreme Court! And so I don’t expect too much help from the Supreme Court on these seats.”

Democrats have vehemently opposed Texas’ proposed map, arguing it could threaten democracy.

Carville argued that the drastic measures he advocated for to game the system in Democrats’ favor were necessary to “save democracy.”

Just 29% of Americans back expanding the Supreme Court, according to a 2024 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris repeatedly refused to answer whether they would pack the court during their 2020 campaign. However, Biden ultimately did not support it during his presidency.