Decades of a culture of no significant consequences for politicians abusing the system in blatantly anti democratic or corrupt ways have have culminated to politicians doing shit like this in the open without any shame.
The US political culture is an embarrassment now. There is a reason why other countries jail their corrupt politicians.
Both parties have been abusing this to some degree whenever the electoral ridings have been due for redrawing every 10 years as the population changes. This is the slow slide into tolerance of anti democratic practices I was talking about.
But these adjustments weren't due until 2030. The president asking to redraw political maps 5 years early with openly expressed specific intent to gain more seats for his party is an unprecedented new low. At that point they don't even attempt to provide the illusion of free and fair elections