New Poll: 56% Of Republicans Say Trump Should Run Again

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February polling from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin found that 56 per cent of Republican voters surveyed in the poll believe Trump should run. Over 30 percent of Republicans say he should not run again. Two-thirds of independent voters oppose him running again.

Trump, with his campaign hailing Texas as “Trump Country,” was once a force of nature with the state’s GOP, though his political future in the state is shaping up to look much different in 2024 compared to his campaigns in 2016 and 2020.

GOP US Rep Chip Roy recently endorsed Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, whom he called “a man of conviction.” Gov. Greg Abbott also did not attend Trump’s campaign rally in October 2020, two days before early voting began.

(Full story HERE.)
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Survey Of Texas GOP Voters Shows DeSantis Beating Trump In Primary

Republican voters in Texas support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election over former President Donald Trump by more than 10 percentage points, according to a new poll commissioned by the Republican Party of Texas.

The survey asked voters who are likely to participate in the 2024 Texas Republican primary election who they would vote for out of six Republican candidates including DeSantis and Trump. DeSantis was the top choice, with 43% of respondents saying they would vote for him if the primary election were held today. 

Trump came in second place with 32%. DeSantis’ support among the surveyed voters surged to 66% when they were asked about a situation in which Trump would decline to run in 2024.

(Full story HERE.)
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Crenshaw Says FBI Raid "Automatically Political"

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Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said on Sunday that the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was “automatically political.” 

On CNN’s “State of the Union,” moderator Jake Tapper asked Crenshaw “if law enforcement is innocent until proven guilty,” referring to the skepticism that the agency has faced for executing a search warrant at the Florida estate. 

(Full story HERE.)
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Trump Rallies In Texas Draw Tens Of Thousands

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Former President Donald Trump criticized Democrats for a litany of issues, including inflation and immigration, during an Austin rally Saturday where he urged conservative supporters to help the Republican Party take control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

The rally's speakers featured Trump, his son Don, Junior, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo - what radio ads for the event featuring Trump called his "dream team."

The Austin rally drew approximately 10,000 people. A rally in Conroe, Texas reportedly true up to 80,000 in a larger venue.

(Full story HERE.)
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Trump Endorses Three Incumbent Congressmen

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Former President Trump issued a series of endorsements on Wednesday backing three Texas Republicans seeking reelection to the House.

Trump issued endorsements for Reps. Lance Gooden, Troy Nehls and Randy Weber. All three Texas Republicans voted against certifying the 2020 electoral results showing President Biden's win.

(Full story HERE.)
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Pro-Trump Congressional Candidate Blames 2016 Anti-Trump Post On Joke By Son

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A Republican congressional candidate in a closely watched race running in the mold of former President Donald Trump is blaming an anti-Trump Facebook post from 2016 on a prank by his son.

Ed Cabrera, among seven Republicans running for the 28th Congressional District, currently held by Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, is a businessman and rancher from the Rio Grande Valley, and is running as a Trump-like candidate.

But a February 2016 post, which showed Cabrera posing outside the Mexican consulate in New York City, includes the caption, "Better to be a Mexican, than to be a citizen of a country that elects Trump as President. Don't pay for the wall, arriba Mejico!"

(Full story HERE.)
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Gohmert Says Paxton Lied To Trump To Get Endorsement

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Conservative Congressman Louie Gohmert says he called Donald Trump last summer when he heard the former President was thinking about endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“I suggested that he hold up. I said, ‘I’m even thinking about it if there’s not a better alternative’,” said U.S. Rep. Gohmert.

After the former President endorsed Paxton last July, Gohmert said he didn’t contact Mr. Trump again. But Trump called him.

“He called me and he said, ‘I was told that you were definitely not running before I endorsed.’ Well, I didn’t tell him that. So, it became clear it took a lie, a lie to President Trump that Gohmert’s definitely not running in order to get the endorsement and further re-enforces this Attorney General will do anything and say anything to get what he wants."

(Full story HERE.)
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Ag Commish Sid Miller Touts Trump Endorsement

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Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who is seeking re-election in 2022, announced Wednesday on Facebook that he has received the endorsement of former Pres. Donald Trump on Tuesday.

"Yesterday, I received a phone call from my good friend, President Donald J. Trump, from his Florida home at Mar-a-Lago. President Trump thanked me for standing with him in 2016 and 2020 and he told me I had his "full, unwavering support and endorsement in my reelection campaign for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture"

Miller related to his Facebook followers that Trump calls him, "Trump's Man in Texas" because "he knows he too has my full, unwavering support in 2024 should he run for reelection."

He shared a photo of him and Trump when he visited El Paso in August, 2019.

Miller faces James White and Carey Counsil on the March 1 primary election ballot.

(Full story HERE.)
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Jan 6 Committee Investigating Rick Perry Text

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Donald Trump's Energy Secretary Rick Perry was revealed on Friday to be the person who texted Mark Meadows with an 'aggressive' plan to have Republican-controlled state legislatures overturn Joe Biden's election victory.

CNN revealed Perry as the person behind the text, which was read publicly - but anonymously - on the House floor this week during the vote on holding Meadows in contemp of Congress.

A spokesman for the former Texas governor, however, denied it was Perry's number to the network. But CNN said that 'multiple people' who know Perry confirmed that the phone number the committee associated with that text message is Perry's number. 

CNN revealed Perry as the person behind the text, which was read publicly - but anonymously - on the House floor during the vote on holding Meadows in contempt of Congress.

The Nov. 4, 2020, text was read on the House floor Tuesday night by Rep. Jamie Raskin: 'HERE's an AGRESSIVE (sic) STRATEGY: Why can t (sic) the states of GA NC PENN and other R controlled state houses declare this is BS (where conflicts and election not called that night) and just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the SCOTUS.'

The strategy is not unlike one pursued by the Republican party in 1876, in which three Southern states controlled by Republican legislatures sent disputed election results to Congress, causing a months-long national crisis.

(Full story here.)
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San Antonio Church Under fire After "Let's Go Brandon" Chants

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A San Antonio church is coming under fire over video showing people inside the place of worship chanting the viral anti-Biden phrase, "Let’s Go Brandon." 

"A euphemism for, you know, less than well wishes for the president of the United States and it has become a kind of a radical conservative rallying cry," Oklahoma pastor Jeremy Coleman said of the video showing people within the nondenominational Cornerstone Church chanting the phrase. 

"It was gut-wrenching and heartbreaking," Coleman added, according to News4SA. 

An outside group held a "ReAwaken America" conference at the facility, which is run by televangelist John Hagee, from Nov. 11-13, where allies of former Pres. Trump, such as Michael Flynn and My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell, spoke, Newsweek reported. 

San Antonio Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro condemned the rally.

"This is not a church service. It’s a political rally. It’s also a prime example of why more people are turned off by and leaving organized religion," Castro said on Twitter. 

(Full story here.)
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New Sec. Of State Says 2020 Election "Not Stolen" But Wants Audit To Go Forward

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Texas’ new secretary of state says he wants to restore confidence in the state’s elections, but says the 2020 presidential election was not stolen.

In an interview Thursday, John Scott said there’s no question that Joe Biden is the president and that he has “not seen anything” to suggest the election was stolen.

But Scott stopped short of agreeing with a deputy under his predecessor who said the 2020 election in Texas “smooth and secure.” He did not want to get ahead of an election audit of four of Texas' largest counties, which he called his top priority.

(Full story here.)
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Abbott Announces Election Audit Of Four Counties After Trump Request

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Former Pres. Trump is pressuring Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to back a bill to launch an election audit in the Lone Star State, signaling an expanded effort to throw his broader 2020 election defeat into question

The Texas secretary of state's office announced Thursday afternoon it would carry out an election audit in four of the state's largest counties.

While Trump won Texas handily in November, as did Republicans up and down the ballot, he issued an open letter to Abbott Thursday repeating his claims of mass voter fraud and other irregularities "in some" counties in the state and urged the governor to back the election audit bill in the Texas Legislature's upcoming special session.

The legislature passed sweeping legislation to reform elections in a previous session this year, ending special, one time election procedures such as drive-thru voting in 24-hour voting and lengthened hours of voting in some counties. Democrats portrayed this as restricting access to voting and voter suppression, but these selection procedures were unusual and in place only for the 2020 election.

(Full story here.)
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AG Paxton Gets Trump Endorsement For Re-election Bid

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Former Pres. Donald Trump has offered his endorsement to Attorney General Ken Paxton in an email, crediting the attorney general for opposing “vicious and very dangerous Radical Left Democrats” as well as unnamed “foolish and unsuspecting RINOs,” or Republicans In Name Only.

The former president said Paxton is strong on Election Integrity, possibly referencing Paxton’s December lawsuit that sought to invalidate President Joe Biden’s victories in multiple swing states, and his office’s aggressive approach to prosecuting voting-related crimes.

His endorsement overlooks Paxton's opponent, George P. Bush, who has been friendly to the former president, despite him savaging Bush's father Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential primary election.

On Facebook, Bush reacted by posting, "I’m running for Attorney General because Texans deserve integrity and honesty from the office of Texas’ top law enforcement official. Texans deserve a candidate without a laundry list of existing and potential criminal indictments."

Test of Trump's endorsement is below: 

(Full story here.)
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West Not Worried By Trump Endorsement Of Abbott

Outgoing Texas GOP chair and former congressman Allen West insists that former President Trump’s endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott "doesn’t hurt" his 2022 primary challenge against the two-term Republican governor.

"It has no relevance to me as I prepare to run for governor of Texas," West told Fox News ahead of his speech this weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas.

At the conference, former Pres. Trump reiterated his "complete and total endorsement" of Abbott.

(Full story here.)

Trump, Abbott To Tour Southern Border

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Former President of the the United States Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will be coming to Texas at the end of the month to tour the southern border with Gov. Greg Abbott.

In an open letter, the former president stated that the border crisis precipitated by Pres. Biden has caused innumerable hardships for schools, hospitals, and border towns in general.

He concluded: 

"My visit will hopefully shine a spotlight on these crimes against out Nation–and show the incredible people of ICE and Border Patrol that they have our unshakeable support."

Trump has endorsed Gov. Abbott in his re-election bid next year.

(Full story here.)
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Gov. Abbott Wins Trump Re-Election Endorsement

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Gov. Greg Abbott has received the endorsement of former president Donald Trump for the governor's re-election bid next year.

He made the statement Tuesday, in an email to supporters of Trump's Save America PAC. In its entirety, it reads:

"Greg Abbott is a fighter and a Great Governor for the indefinite people of Texas. No governor has done more to secure the border and keep our communities safe than Governor Abbott. Greg is a staunch defender of the Second Amendment and has made Texas a Second Amendment sanctuary State. Texas has become a job-creating machine, and our partnership helped restore America's economic power and success. Greg is also very tough on crime, fully supports the brave men and women of Law Enforcement, and is all in on Election Integrity. Governor Greg Abbott will continue to be a great leader for the Lone Star State and has my complete and total endorsement for re-election. He will never let you down!" 

The endorsement will not be met with joy by his announced primary opponent, former State Sen. Don Huffines, and his other presumed opponent, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who is expected to announce in the coming weeks. They are both likely to aggressively seek the approval of conservative Trump voters. That will be complicated by Trump's strong endorsement of Abbott.

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QAnon Conference Draws Controversial Comments From Sidney Powell, Gen. Flynn

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The four-day "For God & Country Patriot Roundup," which was hosted by major QAnon supporters in Dallas this past Memorial Day weekend, is making political waves across the country.

The event included appearances by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Texas GOP Chair Allen West, 2020 election attorney Sidney Powell, and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Powell, who spearhead a team of the lawyers last year after the election seeking recounts in several states, said the election could even now be overturned, with former Pres. Donald Trump,"reinstated" as president, Biden "moved out" of the White House, and a new inauguration day set for Trump's return. 

Powell, who had promised last November to "release the Kraken" in the court system on behalf of Trump, was fired by the president in late November after no cases she filled had moved forward into the courts. The Trump campaign team disavowed her, and rejected her attempts to blame voting machines for massive fraud throughout the country. She was later sued by Dominion Voting Systems, alleging that her comments were defamatory.

Flynn, the former National security adviser in the White House, who was fired by, but later pardoned by, Pres. Trump, responded to a military man's question from the audience about whether a coup like one in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar on Jan. 31, could happen here in the US.

Flynn replied, "No reason. I mean, it should happen here." Both the question and his response received loud applause from the audience.

The event was recorded on video, but he later had a relative on Twitter relay a statement from him claiming he was misquoted and demanded a retraction from media who reported otherwise.

"Let me be VERY CLEAR – There is NO reason whatsoever for any coup in America, and I do not and have not at any time called for any action of that sort. Any reporting of any other belief by me is a bold face fabrication." 

Democrats since the 2020 election have sought to paint Republicans, especially ones who supported the Jan. 6 riot in DC, as "insurrectionists." 

(Full story here.)
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George P. Bush: 2020 Election Was Not Stolen

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Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush (R) said he would support former President Trump in a 2024 presidential run, but pushed back on the former president's claims that the election was stolen.

Bush is considering a run for attorney general, challenging Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has announced he is seeking re-election.

(Full story here)
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Trump Aide Pierson Decides Against Crowded 6th Dist. Special Election, Signals Future Run

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On the final day of filing for the 6th District congressional seat special election, former Trump communications director Katrina Pierson decided against a run for the open seat.

This, as 23 others,  11 Democrats and 13 Republicans, did take the plunge.

Pierson, widely reported to be a condidate, said Tuesday on Twitter she want found to sell to open seat, but signaled that she is open to running for Congress in 2022.

"I am humbled by the outpouring of support/encouragement of so many fellow Texans, Rep leaders & especially the Trump family! I have decided that I have a greater responsibility to #TakeBackTheHouse 

I’m not running in TX6, but I’m not closing the door on Congress - stay tuned!"

Some insiders are speculating that polling was not great for her in this race. If she had run, she would have faced former Health and U.S. Human Services Dept. chief of staff Brian Harrison, making an expected Trump endorsement of Pierson problematic.

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Trump Aide Katrina Pierson Planning Congressional Run

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As this blog reported Saturday, The Washington Times and other media are now confirming that former Trump Communications Director Katrina Pierson will seek the open congressional seat held by the late Rep. Ron Wright.

The Hill reported the news Sunday night, citing “five sources with knowledge of her planning,” that Pierson will file paperwork in the coming days. Wednesday is the final day of filing for the May 1 special election.

Pierson, a former Tea Party activist, has had “advanced conversations with a top Republican consulting firm” and expects to receive the backing of Trump himself, something insiers have confirmed to this blog as well.

In a text message to The Hill Sunday night, Pierson declined to directly say that she would run, but didn’t deny it, either.

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