Trump makes his third Texas trip in a month to promote Paxton, but at least a dozen interruptions turn his San Antonio rally chaotic

A packed Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio heard President Donald Trump on Wednesday night as he tried to pull Texas voters behind Senate candidate Ken Paxton. According to Associated Press, the visit was his third to the state in less than a month. Republicans have already directed more than $300 million to elections there, more money and manpower than the party had planned to spend in the country’s most populous reliably Republican state this midterm season.

Election Day is less than a month away. Trump carried Texas in 2024 by almost 14 percentage points, but his poor approval ratings, the Iran war, and soaring gas prices have threatened Republicans in virtually every state. Inside the arena, the speech did not stay on the Senate race. Trump also promised the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired baseball star Roger Clemens, restated his support for the death penalty for drug dealers, and returned to recent remarks about Iran possibly bombing American cities.

Those Iran comments were part of a recurring line that high fuel costs are “a small price to pay” for the war. The night did not run straight through. Protesters cut in again and again, and at least a dozen demonstrators interrupted the president, including one who appeared to be close to the stage.

Interruptions, an absent governor, and a medal for a pitcher denied the Hall of Fame

Some of the demonstrators were led away by police. After one interruption, Trump stepped away from the microphone briefly. “He’s going back home to mom,” Trump said. “But what he doesn’t know is his mom voted for Trump.”

He then addressed the idea of Iranian strikes on U.S. cities. “You want to see problems? Let them hit San Diego, let them hit Los Angeles,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let that happen. We protect our cities. We protect our country,” he added. Trump made similar comments in his Nebraska rally as well. 

Most of the speech still centered on the Senate contest. Trump called Paxton “perhaps the greatest attorney general in the United States of America.” Speaking of the candidate he endorsed in the Republican primary over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Trump said, “He was tough and he was with us all the way,” and “He’s a fantastic man.”

Trump did not mention a recently leaked recording in which Paxton lamented the war in Iran and rising fuel prices, and complained that his campaign was being run by operatives in Washington. Texas last elected a Democrat to the Senate in 1988. James Talarico’s fundraising, Trump’s low approval rating, and concerns about Paxton’s character have put the race in play, while the governor’s race has drawn a sudden influx of cash from Democrats.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott was not at the rally. The three-term governor, who won reelection in 2022 by roughly 11 percentage points, was instead scheduled to attend the dedication of a hospital about 330 miles away. He is locked in a competitive reelection race against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa.

Texas Democratic Party spokesperson Jacob Long said, “For years, Greg Abbott has never been shy about embracing Donald Trump, calling Trump a ‘great friend’ and championing his agenda every step of the way.”

Long added, “But now, as Texas families get crushed by record-high prices driven by Trump’s tariffs and war with Iran, suddenly Greg Abbott has somewhere else to be.”

Trump repeatedly criticized Talarico, including on the death penalty, in the state that leads the nation in executions. He restated his support for the death penalty for “large scale drug dealers, human traffickers and anyone who kills a police officer.”

He also noted that Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army major who killed 13 people in a 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, will be executed by firing squad. The president approved that method earlier this week and suggested that Talarico opposes it. The Talarico campaign did not immediately respond when asked about the candidate’s position on Hasan’s scheduled execution.

Near the end, Paxton was invited onstage. With Trump standing behind him, Paxton said, “I am so grateful that you’re here.”

Trump had given Paxton only a short push at the start, then spent almost as much time later on Clemens, the retired Red Sox and Yankees pitcher. Clemens has been denied a spot in Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame because of alleged involvement with performance-enhancing drugs. Trump brought him onstage and said he would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, calling it “a step up” from the Hall of Fame.

Clemens said he was stunned. “This supersedes anything that obviously I’ve done in my playing career,” he said, standing alongside Trump. “And to get it from this man, this president. … You talking about a winner? That’s a winner right there.”