President Trump on Tuesday traveled to Texas, which hasn’t elected a Democrat to any statewide office in 32 years, to boost Republican Ken Paxton in a tightly contested U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico.
Mr. Trump campaigned with Mr. Paxton at a rally in Corpus Christi on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to speak in Lubbock later in the evening.
During his roughly 90-minute remarks, Mr. Trump warned voters that Mr. Talarico does not represent Texas values. The president repeatedly referred to the Democrat by the disparaging nickname, “Talafreako.”
People were interested in these podcasts
“Talafraeako wants to get rid of the guns. He wants to get rid of the oil. He wants to get rid of the meat, but he wants to keep the transgender mutilation of your children and open borders. He wants to keep men playing in women’s sports. This is what Talafreako stands for,” Mr. Trump said.
“So if you’re running in Texas and you don’t like guns, and you don’t like meat, and if you don’t like oil, I think you should be losing by a lot,” Mr. Trump said of the vegan Mr. Talarico. “Where the hell did they get this guy?”
The president then hailed Mr. Paxton as “somebody that’s got our values.”
SEE ALSO: Trump says he will accept midterm results ‘if they are honest’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared alongside Mr. Trump to show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude that will be processed in Texas refineries. He and the president hailed the arrival as their commitment to Texas’ oil-heavy economy.
An Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media poll released last week found that 48% of likely voters support Mr. Talarico and 46% support Mr. Paxton. The two-point difference is within the poll’s 3.1 percentage-point margin of error.
Meanwhile, the Cook Political Report published a poll last week showing Mr. Talarico leading Mr. Paxton 49% to 44%, a 5-point lead outside its 3.2-point margin of error.
Tuesday marked Mr. Trump’s third visit to Texas since holding a first-of-its-kind midterm convention in Dallas in September, underscoring the state’s importance to the Republican Party.
The visit is also the latest in Mr. Trump’s midterm stumping ahead of next week’s midterm election. In the past few days, he has traveled to Mississippi, Michigan, Georgia, Florida and Iowa. His next steps are Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Iowa. He won all of the states in 2024.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.