President Donald Trump returned to the Port of Corpus Christi on Tuesday, rallying a final push of GOP votes for pivotal midterm election races.
This week’s campaign tour of Texas cities focused on garnering support for Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in his U.S. Senate race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
The visit marks the second in eight months for the President, having been at the Port on February 27 to promote the Port and GOP candidates just before primary elections.
Why did Trump revisit Corpus Christi specifically?
In addition to what is anticipated to be a close call for the Texas senate seat, early polling stats show highly competitive races for four congressional districts, three of them in the South Texas region. These are: Texas 15th, 28th and 34th Congressional Districts.
According to Del Mar College political science professor Dr. Paul Gottemoller, the president’s visit highlights the importance of Latino voters for Republicans’ overall success.
“There was a hope that the 2024 election results signified a permanent partisan shift among Latino voters in South Texas,” said Gottemoller.
However, now polls show “that it was not a permanent shift” and Gottemoller said votes from South Texas Latinos are still very much up for grabs.
Trump's Corpus Christi rally shows an attempt to gain South Texan Latino votes and prevent seats flipping, which could lead to a difficult time advancing his agenda in Congress.
Talarico visited Corpus Christi over the weekend in his own final push to gain the support of the same demographic.
What happened during Trump’s Corpus Christi Rally?
Before Trump took the stage for his 75-minute remarks, many GOP candidates took a moment to introduce themselves and their platforms to the crowd.
Tuesday’s rally included speeches from District 34 candidate Eric Flores, District 15 incumbent Monica De La Cruz, and District 27 incumbent Michael Cloud.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick who is seeking re-election also spoke, as well as Texas State Senator and Attorney General Candidate Mayes Middleton.
Notably not in attendance, Governor Greg Abbott was campaigning in Victoria County at the same time.
Once the President took the stage
Trump announced that in addition to vying for GOP support, the rally was held in Corpus Christi to celebrate 1-million barrels of oil from Venezuela that arrived at the Port on Tuesday.
“Thanks to our big victory in our recent war with Venezuela, the oil and think of this— Look at that ship; is that beautiful? Finally," he said "We've had many come in already, We've had many come in for refinement. They refine the oil, but the oil on the ships outside is being provided to the United States at zero cost to the American taxpayer.”
The President told the crowd that climbing gas prices would come down, but that the country would benefit from the increase in costs and the fact that the US stopped Iran from having a nuclear weapon. He also credited tariffs enacted by his administration for being the reason the country “is now taking in more money, more revenue, more wealth than it’s ever accumulated before.”
The President spent a large portion of the speech attacking Talarico with numerous claims including that he wants to open borders, wants to dismantle Texas oil and gas, and that he is vegan.
Trump offered the podium to Alexis Nungaray, mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray who was sexually assaulted and killed by two Venezuelan nationals in Houston in 2024.
“She was a 12-year-old girl who had her entire life ahead of her with dreams beyond her wildest imaginations," she said. "But it was cut devastatingly short because of the border policies we had due to the last previous Administration, that administration failed Jocelyn.”
She thanked the president for sharing her daughter’s story and urged attendees to vote.
Trump rounded out his speech highlighting economic growth in the past year, assuring continued growth with Ken Paxton as senator, and promising voters $5,000 each if Republicans win the House and the Senate.
What Comes Next
Trump’s next stop was in Lubbock Tuesday evening where Paxton has seen less support from voters compared to other statewide Republican candidates.
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