Protesters repeatedly interrupted President Trump’s San Antonio rally for Ken Paxton. Texas’s Senate race has drawn national attention.
SAN ANTONIO — President Donald Trump held a rally Wednesday night in support of Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton as protesters repeatedly interrupted his remarks. At least a dozen demonstrators disrupted the event at the Freeman Coliseum, according to The Associated Press. Police led some of them away. One appeared to be close to the stage, and Trump briefly stepped away from the microphone after one interruption.
Trump spent much of his speech on the Texas Senate race, calling Paxton an outstanding attorney general. Trump endorsed Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary. Paxton joined Trump onstage near the end and thanked him for coming. Trump did not mention a recently leaked recording of Paxton discussing the war in Iran and rising fuel prices, and complaining that his campaign was being run by operatives in Washington. Trump also criticized Democratic candidate James Talarico, including on the death penalty, and restated his support for executing large-scale drug dealers, human traffickers and anyone who kills a police officer.
Trump also announced that he will award retired baseball pitcher Roger Clemens the Presidential Medal of Freedom and brought him onstage. He addressed his recent remarks about Iran, which included the possibility of Iranian attacks on American cities as part of his argument that high fuel costs are a small price to pay for the war. Trump said Wednesday that the United States would not allow Iran to strike cities such as San Diego or Los Angeles.
The visit was Trump’s third to Texas in less than a month. Republican Party officials have devoted more than $300 million to Texas races so far, according to AP. Trump won the state by almost 14 percentage points in 2024, and Texas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1988. AP reported that Trump’s low approval ratings, the Iran war, higher gas prices and concerns about Paxton’s character have put the race in play. Election Day is less than a month away.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott did not attend the rally. He instead planned to attend a hospital dedication about 330 miles away. Abbott is in a competitive re-election race against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa. A Texas Democratic Party spokesperson criticized his absence, linking it to rising prices that the party attributes to Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war. The Talarico campaign did not immediately respond to a question about Trump’s suggestion that the candidate opposes the planned execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major convicted in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting.
Information for this report came from The Associated Press, as published by ABC News.