We’re back with another episode of Dixie Dems, the podcast from Lean to the Left that takes an irreverent look at politics in the south, as well as nationwide. We’ll talk about candidates, Trump’s legal troubles, Trump pardon talk, the big Supreme Court gerrymandering decision, and much more.

--- Hey guys, welcome to the Lean to the Left podcast and the June 2023 episode of the Dixie Dems with my partners, Arthur Hill, from North Carolina, and Robert Thompson, from Georgia.

Arthur is first vice chair of the Brunswick County, North Carolina, Democratic party. Robert Thompson is based in Atlanta and founded Peach News Now and its opinion podcast, Got Damn Liberals. Me…I’m based in South Carolina, the state where two Republican candidates are taking on Donald Trump in the Republican presidential sweepstakes.

They, of course, are former SC governor Nikki Haley, former UN ambassador for Trump, and Sen. Tim Scott, the only African American GOP US Senator. Oh, it’s also the state where Sen. Lindsey Graham, still sucking up to Trump despite his indictment for violating the espionage act in that classified records case, said of Trump: At least he isn’t a spy. Good grief.

So, welcome guys… Arthur…tell us about what’s going on in North Carolina? Big state supreme court decision on gerrymandering, right?

How about you, Robert. Looks like Trump’s next legal challenge could come from Georgia, right?

What’s happening in South Carolina?

With two GOP presidential candidates running against Trump, a big question is what would they do if elected about pardoning Donald Trump for his crimes? Well, Nikki Haley says she’d be “inclined” to pardon him even though his actions inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol put first responders in danger. She dragged in the plea deal between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden, saying there’s a double standard…one for Republicans like Trump and another for Democrats like Biden.

Also, on Twitter, Haley accused Barack Obama of dividing America “by race and gender” because he took issue with her claim that America is not racist. Excuse me…but it was her old boss, Trump, who set out to divide America that way and was spectacularly successful. Haley should just shut up.

By the way, while some support Haley for taking down the Confederate flag at the State House when she was governor, the Washington Post reported that she did so only after the massacre at a church in Charleston, where worshipers were murdered by a gunman, forced her hand. She previously had said the flag was “about heritage.”

Meanwhile, when asked what he would do about a Trump pardon, Sen. Tim Scott avoided the question, but said he would “clean out” the Department of Justice. Where was he when Trump was using DOJ as his own personal police force? Please. What do you guys think about how the GOP candidates are twisting themselves into knots over a potential Trump pardon?

Scott visited Myrtle Beach the other day trying to drum up support. He had a pretty good crowd, according to reports, but the problem was that while attendees said they liked him well enough, they still support Trump but would like to see Scott as his vice president. That’s probably not what Scott wanted to hear, unless that’s his angle, anyway. Could be Haley’s angle, too, for that matter.

As for Trump, he’s scheduled to make his first visit to South Carolina since being indicted twice – on Saturday, July 1, at the city of Pickens, ahead of their Independence Day celebration. Can’t wait for that one.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court, which earlier this month unexpectedly upheld a prohibition against racial gerrymandering in an Alabama case, has agreed to consider a lower court decision that struck down a congressional district as an illegal racial gerrymander. The lower court held that the congressional district – which includes Charleston – “constituted an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because race was the predominant factor in the adoption of the” plan. South Carolina Republicans asked the Supreme Court to take up the case and arguing that the Republican-led legislature took politics into consideration when drawing the map, not race.

Given the Alabama decision, it will be especially interesting to see what the conservative-dominated Supreme Court will do. The results likely will have broad ramifications nationally.

There was another development here in South Carolina…the city of Conway, not far from Myrtle Beach, passed a resolution declaring June to be Pride Month only to be met with a bunch of protesters, including pastors and evangelical Christians. But to their credit, Conway’s mayor and city council stuck by their resolution, which said LGBTQ residents “deserve to feel safe and respected in their homes, neighborhoods, schools and workplaces.” Please tell me why that would be objectionable?