Abortion. Immigration. Presidential campaigns of Trump, Harris take center stage in Texas
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris made late-hour appeals to Texans and those watching from outside the Lone Star State as they held dueling campaign events in the state on Friday Oct. 25.
The candidates set out to contrast themselves from their opponent, using Texas as their platform to make points about border security and abortion access to voters across the country.
For Trump, the main event was a podcast that could reach millions, with a campaign event in Austin as a prelude. Harris’ rally was a celebrity-packed affair, with supporters packing Shell Energy Stadium, where they’d see musical artists Kelly Rowland, Beyoncé and Willie Nelson.
“We are so happy to be standing here on this stage as proud, country, Texas women, supporting and celebrating the one and only Vice President Kamala Harris – a woman who has been pushing for what this country really needs right now: Unity,” said Beyoncé, who walked out hand-in-hand with Rowland, together making up half of Destiny’s Child.
Trump, the Republican nominee, got the first word in Texas with his event that largely focused on immigration and border security earlier in the day.
He entered a private jet hangar in Southeast Austin to the song “God Bless the USA” and cheers from more than 100 supporters there for what was billed as “remarks to the press,” with an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” also on his agenda while in town.
“Today Kamala is here in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities. Isn’t that exciting?” Trump said.
The audience booed the mention of her visit.
“She doesn’t want to go to the swing states because she’s losing so badly in those states, so she decided to come to Texas,” Trump said moments before.
Harris, the Democratic nominee, assured voters they are making a difference in a state where a Democrat hasn’t won an statewide election since 1994.
“So to all the friends here, let us remember: Momentum is on our side,” Harris said. “I know sometimes in Texas, folks are like, ‘Is it worth it? Does it make a difference?’ Yes it does. You are making a difference, and momentum is on our side.”
The presidential race in Texas
The candidates’ Texas visits come as early voters across the state head to the polls before Election Day on Nov. 5. In-person early voting started on Monday, Oct. 21, and runs through Nov. 1.
As of Thursday, Oct 24, more than 3.5 million people had voted early in person or by mail statewide, according to The Texas Secretary of State’s office.
If polls and the trends of the past three decades in Texas hold true, Trump is the likely winner in Texas.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is sure of it.
People wonder, “Why would he come to Texas? He’s got Texans in the bag,” Miller said. “Well, he’s not necessarily talking to Texans.”
Instead, Trump was here to court the many listeners of the podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Trump was reportedly interviewing with Rogan in Austin. His podcast has 14.5 million followers, according to Bloomberg. The appearance will help Trump reach young men “who don’t necessarily even turn out to vote,” including those in swing states, Miller said.
“He’s not just talking to Texans,” Miller said. “He talks across the nation. It’s a brilliant move coming here and doing a press conference. He’ll get more earned media, and it won’t cost him a dime.”
Miller is a staunch supporter of the former president and a regular at his rallies, including the rally in Pennsylvania where an assassination attempt was made against Trump. He was one of several statewide elected officials present, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. None are up for reelection this November.
Brandon Gill, a Republican running for Congressional District 26 in North Texas, was also in town for the event. He is seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, a Lewisville Republican who is retiring.
Harris likely believes her Texas trip could garner national coverage and exposure as she appears with stars like Beyoncé, said TCU political science professor Jim Riddlesperger ahead of the Trump and Harris visits.
“We ready to say madam president?” said Country Music Legend Willie Nelson, with his signature bandanna and long braids – a brief remark before playing “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.”
Rowland, Actress Jessica Alba and Beyoncé’s mother Tina Knowles were also among the celebrity guests speaking during the rally centered on abortion access.
Senate candidates spotlighted
A tight U.S. Senate race may be one of the reasons the presidential candidates were in Texas, Riddlesperger said, previewing the presidential visits.
Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who is running for re-election against U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, attended the Trump event in Austin. He did not speak at the event, but Trump recognized the two-term senator from the stage.
“It’s hard to believe he’s in a race, because honestly, I don’t know who would want to run against him, because he’s really a great senator,” Trump said. “He’s a great senator. He loves the country. He’s tough as hell. ... He’s always fighting, and he’s fighting for the state but he’s fighting more for the country than just about anybody.”
Allred also got a presidential nominee shoutout: “I’m counting on you to send him to the United States Senate so we can get right to work,” Harris said.
Cruz spoke with reporters as he arrived at Trump’s event, greeted by supporters wanting photos with the senator. Throughout the campaign cycle, Cruz has likened Allred to Harris, a point he made again Friday as he contrasted himself with Allred.
“I couldn’t ask for a better summation of this campaign than Allred and Harris arm-in-arm at the same time that President Trump and I are standing together,” Cruz said.
He and Trump achieved “historic success” securing the border, while President Joe Biden, Harris and Allred “deliberately broke it” and opened the border, Cruz said.
Allred spoke ahead of Harris taking the stage. At points throughout his speech, members of the crowd chanted “Beat Ted Cruz” and “You about to lose your job.”
Allred took the opportunity to highlight his upbringing, raised by a single mother, and his background as a former NFL player, and civil rights attorney. He also touted bipartisanship, a common theme in the Senate race.
“I know you’re hoping that your elected officials are working as hard as you are, but Ted Cruz has been all about himself for too long,” Allred said.
Allred spoke on abortion access and Texas’ near abortion ban, thanking Harris for visiting Texas and “shining a light on what’s happening to Texas families and Texas women.” He also blamed Cruz for Texas’ restrictive abortion law
Trump talks border security
Immigration and abortion access have been top issues in the Trump and Harris campaigns, and they were again front and center at Friday’s events, with Harris calling Texas “ground zero in the fight for reproductive freedom” and Trump calling Texas “ground zero for the largest border invasion in the history of the world.”
During his remarks, Trump criticized Harris for not doing enough to secure the border and accused her of allowing criminals to enter the country illegally. He said she has a “policy of importing migrant gangs,” which he said is “a crime against our country.”
“It’s actually a crime against humanity, and her abolition of our border should disqualify her for even running,” Trump said. “I mean, I don’t know how you can run for the president of the United States and allow people to pour into our country.”
He called the United States a “garbage can for the rest of the world to dump the people that they don’t want” and criticized Harris for not meeting with victims of migrant crimes while in Texas.
Among other border security-related plans for office, Trump vowed to “launch the largest deportation program in American history” and called for the death penalty for “any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer.”
Texas abortion law
Harris criticized Texas’ strict abortion law and linked it to Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court justice appointments.
“Texas, what is happening across this state and our country is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of it,” Harris said.
She called it “immoral” for abortion laws not to make exceptions for rape and incest, like Texas’ law.
“Let us agree that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling her what to do with her body,” Harris said.
Harris also warned that “if Donald Trump wins again, he will ban abortion nationwide.”
On CSPAN’s livestream of the Houston Rally, it sounded like some in the crowd booed at Harris at points throughout her speech. At other points attendees cheered or booed to Harris’ favor.
“You know what, just send them that small rally down the street. It will be fine,” Harris said.
Both candidates featured people impacted by the policy areas they were discussing as they made their appeals to voters. For Harris, it included women from Texas and across the country impacted by abortion laws.
“The reality is for every story we hear about, about the suffering because of a Trump abortion ban, there are so many stories we have never heard,” Harris said.
Amanda Zurawski, who sued Texas over its abortion laws, shared her experience struggling to access an abortion during a life threatening pregnancy.
“It’s unthinkable that anyone could cheer on the cruel abortion bans that nearly took Amanda’s life, but that’s exactly what Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have done,” said Zurawski’s husband Josh.
Joining Trump was Alexis Nungaray, whose 12-year-old daughter Jocelyn Nungaray was killed in June. The two men accused of killing her are Venezuelan nationals who an ICE spokesperson has said entered the U.S. illegally, according to The Houston Landing.
“Preteens, they think they’re invincible, and she was just being a child, and due to the Biden-Harris policies we have here, are why she’s not here any more,” Alexis Nungaray said.
This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 3:15 PM.
