Iran war and tariff bills hit Texas: Trump's rally for Paxton interrupted by protesters, governor absent to avoid association

With less than a month before the midterm elections, US President Trump traveled to the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas on the evening of October 7 to campaign for the scandal-plagued Republican Senate candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. According to The Hindu, at the rally that packed the venue, at least a dozen protesters repeatedly interrupted his speech, with some at one point approaching the podium area, and Trump briefly left the microphone after one such interruption.

Regarding a protester who was removed by police, Trump quipped: "He's going home to mommy. But what he doesn't know is that his mommy voted for Trump."

According to The Hindu, Trump also tried that evening to walk back previously controversial remarks that appeared to suggest that bombing an American city would be an "affordable small price" for the war with Iran. At the rally, he instead warned that Iran "could potentially try to strike American cities with missiles" and called out to supporters: "Do you want to see a problem? Let them hit San Diego, let them hit Los Angeles. We're not going to let that happen. We protect our cities. We protect our country."

Political vulnerability extends beyond the venue. According to The Hindu, Texas is the most populous reliably red state in America, and Trump won it in 2024 by a margin of nearly 14 percentage points. But in this midterm cycle, Republicans had not originally planned to commit resources on this scale to the state — the report notes that Republican officials have so far invested more than $300 million in various Texas races, and counts the October 7 campaign event as Trump's third Texas trip in less than a month.

Citing analysis, the report notes that with less than a month until Election Day, Trump's sagging approval ratings, the Iran war, and soaring oil prices have threatened Republican prospects in nearly every state. A telling political signal came from within the Republican camp itself: three-term Governor Greg Abbott did not appear at the rally that evening, instead traveling about 330 miles away to preside over a hospital dedication ceremony.

Texas Democratic Party spokesman Jacob Long promptly issued a statement tying that absence directly to Republican-led policies: "For years, Greg Abbott has never been shy about embracing Donald Trump, calling Trump a 'great friend,' and backing his agenda every step of the way. But now, when Texas families are being crushed by Trump's tariffs and the record-high prices brought by the Iran war, Abbott suddenly has somewhere else to be."

The battlefield itself is also shifting. The report notes that Texas has not elected a Democratic US senator since 1988, but Democratic candidate James Talarico's strong fundraising, Trump's weak approval numbers, and persistent questions about Paxton's personal character have pushed what was once a non-competitive race into the toss-up column. Trump devoted much of his fire that evening to Talarico, repeatedly taunting his opponent with the nickname "Tala-freako."

But for his old ally, Trump was unstinting in his endorsement. He opened by calling Paxton "perhaps the greatest attorney general in the history of the United States of America," and added: "He's solid, he's been with us all the way. He's a terrific person."

Notably, according to The Hindu, Trump barely mentioned a recently leaked recording — the contents of which show Paxton himself expressing frustration about the Iran war and rising fuel prices, while also complaining that his campaign was being run by Washington-based handlers. This rift was deliberately avoided, reflecting the awkward position in which Republicans find themselves on the Iran war: unable to let go of it, yet unable to defend it head-on.

The report did not disclose the specific military scale, casualties, or regional spillover effects of the Iran war, nor did it provide independent economic data to cross-verify the actual burden that tariffs and oil prices have imposed on Texas families. Whether the internal rifts between Trump and Paxton over the Iran war and fuel prices will be reflected in the actual vote count on Election Day in November also remains unclear at this point.