Politics

Trump Faces Protesters While Urging Texas Voters to Back Paxton in Senate Race

By AP

President Donald Trump addressed a packed crowd at Freeman Coliseum on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, urging Texas voters to support Senate candidate Ken Paxton amid concerns about a potential blue wave in the state. Trump also responded to earlier remarks that had suggested a bombing of an American city could be a “small price to pay” for the war in Iran, saying that Iran might try to hit an American city with a missile and that the United States would protect its cities. The rally was repeatedly interrupted by at least a dozen protesters, some of whom were escorted away by police. Trump stepped away from the microphone after one interruption and made a brief comment about a person’s mother voting for him.

The Republican Party has not allocated significant resources to Texas this midterm season, despite the state’s status as the nation’s most populous reliably Republican state, where Trump won by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024. With Election Day less than a month away, Trump’s low approval ratings, the Iran war, and high gas prices have put Republicans in many states at risk. This appearance marked Trump’s third trip to Texas in less than a month, and party officials have spent more than $300 million on elections in the state to date.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a three‑term Republican who won reelection in 2022 by about 11 percentage points, did not attend the rally. Instead, he was scheduled to headline the dedication of a hospital roughly 330 miles away. Democrats criticized Abbott’s absence, noting his past support for Trump and the current economic pressures on Texas families.

The Senate race has attracted significant attention as Democrats seek to gain a majority in the chamber. Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988. Candidate James Talarico’s fundraising, Trump’s low approval rating, and concerns about Paxton’s character have made the race competitive. Trump praised Paxton as “perhaps the greatest attorney general in the United States of America,” describing him as tough and a “fantastic man.” He did not mention a recently leaked recording of Paxton lamenting the war in Iran and rising fuel prices or his campaign’s management by Washington operatives. Instead, Trump focused more on attacking Talarico, repeatedly referring to him as “Tala‑freako.”