Dueling Texas rallies
President Donald Trump held dueling rallies in Corpus Christi and Lubbock on Tuesday to boost Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico in the final week before the midterm elections.
Trump brought out his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, at the Lubbock rally, where Rubio said, “Our enemies are weaker. Our country is stronger, and our people are safer because Donald J. Trump is the president of the United States,”.
What some reports left out
Trump announced methane rollbacks at the Lubbock rally
Not found in 7 outletsView outletsHide outletsNBC NewsThe HillAl JazeeraThe New York TimesThe Texas TribuneHouston Public MediaClick2Houston
Talarico campaigned in Lubbock as well, telling rallygoers, “I know we’re not the only show in town tonight, so I appreciate all 4,000 of you,”.
Trump and Paxton framed Talarico as too extreme for Texas, with Trump referring to him derisively as “Talafreako,” while Talarico cast the contest as a fight against corruption and affordability pressures.
Trump’s Texas push also leaned on energy messaging, as Al Jazeera reported Trump pointed to a ship in the distance and said, “It’s got 1 million barrels of oil on it from Venezuela,”.
Venezuelan oil claim4 of 7 outlets reported it · not in New York Daily News and 2 more▾Rubio, Musk, and polling
Marco Rubio appeared briefly onstage with Trump in Corpus Christi, and Rubio said, “It is an honor to work for the greatest country in the world, for the greatest president in the history of the United States of America,”.
Elon Musk amplified the fight from outside the rallies, writing on X, “Talarico is a lunatic leftist,” as he attacked the Democratic candidate in the final days.
NBC News described Dr. Tim Jones, 66, an emergency room physician in Lubbock, saying, “We’re all closet Democrats,” and linking the turnout to anger about gas prices, diesel prices, inflation, and “lies, the war, all of it.”
ABC News said an early October ReconMR poll found Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico had 48% support while Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton had 44% support, within the poll’s margin of error.
Fox News reported a separate poll showing Paxton and Talarico tied at 49% among likely voters, while it also said Democrats have not won a statewide election in Texas in 32 years.
close-up smiling man in suit, American flag behind6 October 2017 · Archive photoPhoto: Shealah Craighead / White House, Public domainWhat the race decides
Trump’s Texas rallies were aimed at defending GOP majorities in Congress, with ABC News saying the president was barnstorming deep-red states as Democrats made inroads in some unlikely places.
ABC News also tied the campaign to voter economic concerns, noting that “About 7 in 10 Americans say that gas is unaffordable and that the country is headed in the wrong direction,”.
The Hill described the Texas Senate race as one of the most contested and watched, saying Talarico and Paxton remained close in the polls and that Real Clear Polling called the race a toss-up with Talarico holding a slight lead.
Houston Public Media said a Talarico victory would give Texas its first Democratic U.S. Senate election winner since 1988 and end the party’s more than 30-year statewide losing streak.
Los Angeles Times reported that Trump would be accompanied by Rubio as he sought to keep Texas in the Republican column, and it said Rubio’s role included presenting a newly arrived oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude for Texas refineries.