International Desk //

US President Donald Trump faced protests yesterday while campaigning in Texas for Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Trump joined the campaign in Texas—known as the most populous Republican-leaning state—to help prevent a major Democratic victory in the midterm elections. Report: AP.

Trump addressed a packed crowd at the Freeman Coliseum. During the event, he promised to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to retired baseball star Roger Clemens. He also reiterated his stance in favor of the death penalty for drug traffickers. Additionally, Trump explained his recent comments suggesting that Iran might carry out bombings in US cities. Regarding rising fuel prices, he remarked that the higher fuel costs associated with war were a “small price to pay.”

However, Senate candidate Paxton was not the sole focus of Trump’s speech.

President Trump faced repeated interruptions from protesters throughout the event. One protester was spotted positioning themselves close to the stage. In total, at least a dozen protesters disrupted Trump’s address, and police removed several of them from the venue.

At one point, the protests caused Trump to step away from the microphone briefly.

Texas is the most populous and reliably Republican state in the US. Trump had won the state by a margin of approximately 14 percentage points in the 2024 election. However, with less than a month remaining before the election, the situation has become difficult for Republicans across almost all states due to Trump’s declining popularity, the prospect of war with Iran, and rising fuel prices.

Yesterday’s rally marked Trump’s third visit to Texas in less than a month. Republicans have spent over $300 million on the election in the state so far.

Republican Governor Greg Abbott was absent from last night’s rally. Analysts view this as a sign of waning public support for Trump. This Republican governor, who has served three terms, was re-elected by a wide margin in the 2022 election; now, he too is feeling the impact of the turbulent national political climate.

Abbott is set to face Democratic State Representative Gina Hinojosa in the upcoming gubernatorial election on November 3.

Instead of attending the rally with Trump, Abbott was scheduled to attend the inauguration of a hospital located approximately 330 miles away. Democrats have been vocal about the governor’s absence.

Jacob Long, spokesperson for the Texas Democratic Party, said, “Greg Abbott has never hesitated to support Donald Trump over the years. He has called Trump a ‘close friend’ and backed his agenda at every turn. But now, as Texas families face the strain of record-high prices caused by Trump’s tariffs and the war with Iran, Greg Abbott suddenly finds he has somewhere else to be.”

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