POLL: What impact could President Trump\u2019s San Antonio rally have on Texas races?<\/a><\/p>\nCastro pointed to recently leaked audio in which Paxton discussed the effect the war and gas prices were having on his U.S. Senate campaign. Castro criticized Paxton for focusing on the political impact rather than calling on Trump to end the conflict.<\/p>\n
We need leaders of courage, not cowardice,” Castro said. “We need leaders who are willing to stand up to a president, regardless of party, and tell them the truth.<\/p>\n
Castro said the stakes are particularly high in San Antonio because of the city’s deep military ties. He recalled the number of graduates from San Antonio’s Edgewood community who died during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n
“It’s a reminder that when presidents call our nation to war, it’s our service members. It’s people from our communities who are called to serve and fight, who are put in harm’s way,” Castro said.<\/p>\n
Castro also blamed the Iran war for rising gas prices and argued Texas needs a senator willing to challenge a president when necessary. He endorsed State Rep. James Talarico in the U.S. Senate race.<\/p>\n
Garcia, an Iraq War veteran whose district includes Lackland Air Force Base, said she is also the wife of an Army Purple Heart veteran and mother of a U.S. Marine.<\/p>\n
Garcia said Trump campaigned on ending “forever wars,” but argued the United States has now found itself in another prolonged conflict.<\/p>\n
Today, Ken Paxton is going to be on stage with President Donald Trump here in Military City, USA,” Garcia said. “Ken Paxton, we call on you directly to please, as you’re standing on that stage tonight, address your Military City USA representatives and ask President Trump to stop this war immediately.<\/p>\n
Garcia stressed that concerns about service members should cross political lines.<\/p>\n
“Military veterans are red, white and blue,” Garcia said. “It’s not about party when it comes to our veterans. It is about service and it is about doing the right thing.”<\/p>\n
Several veterans joined Castro and Garcia at the event.<\/p>\n
Retired Army Lt. Col. Fred Hofstetter said the war has lasted much longer than Americans were initially led to expect and argued that military families and veterans are also feeling its economic effects through higher fuel and grocery prices.<\/p>\n
“There is no end in sight,” Hofstetter said.<\/p>\n
Hofstetter also criticized Paxton over comments he reportedly made about the timing of the war and its impact on his campaign.<\/p>\n
“Ken Paxton, the candidate, should be demanding Trump end the war now,” Hofstetter said. “We need a Texas senator who will stand up for our service members and our veterans.”<\/p>\n
Retired Air Force Col. Larry Romo, who previously served as director of the U.S. Selective Service System, also called for diplomacy instead of continued military action.<\/p>\n
You do not need a war to stop that,” Romo said while discussing concerns about Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. “You can use diplomacy to prevent that. Use of force should always, always be the last resort.<\/p>\n
Other veterans at the event criticized the handling of the war and called on Congress to take a larger role in overseeing military action and spending.<\/p>\n
The event also took on a campaign tone, with several speakers endorsing Talarico for U.S. Senate and Garcia for reelection.<\/p>\n
Near the end of the news conference, Garcia again challenged Paxton to explain what he would do for Texas veterans.<\/p>\n
“What I haven’t heard is Ken Paxton’s platform and plan for veterans,” Garcia said. “That’s what we haven’t heard.”<\/p>\n
Trump is scheduled to appear tonight with Paxton in San Antonio as the president returns to Texas ahead of the November midterm elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO – U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro joined Texas veterans in San Antonio to call on Attorney General…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-459301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}