AUSTIN, Texas — Today, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa released the following statement on twice-impeached former President Donald Trump’s upcoming campaign stop in Waco: 

“Donald Trump’s brief presidency was a disaster for hard-working Texas families, and we as Texas Democrats are confident that, if he is the Republican nominee in 2024, our state will reject his failed vision. On issue after issue, it’s easy to see why Texans will reject Donald Trump:

“He wants to put Texans’ Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block. He’s in lockstep with Texas Republicans’ extreme abortion ban that takes away Texas women’s right to choose what to do with their own bodies. He presided over the single worst jobs record since the Great Depression, promised and failed to deliver on ‘infrastructure week,’ and caused multiple government shutdowns.

“Trump’s reckless trade policies left countless Texas ranchers and farmers behind, and far too many declared bankruptcy amid his trade war. He tried to slash public education funding every single year he was in office — all while pushing to move billions in taxpayer money to support private schools.

“As President, Donald Trump even supported cutting funding for community policing and other local law enforcement programs, which would have left Texas less safe. Even at the border, where MAGA Republicans are still trying to defund border security personnel and programs, President Biden and Vice President Harris, upon taking office, were left to fix an immigration system that had been gutted by the Trump Administration. And in a state that knows the devastating impacts of gun violence far too well, we can’t forget that Donald Trump is owned-and-operated by the NRA. 

“Donald Trump had the lowest percentage of the vote in a general election of any Republican nominee for president in Texas since the Clinton era – and he’s never won a competitive presidential primary in Texas. Texas can and will do better than this washed-up, twice-impeached demagogue – or any of the other Republican primary hopefuls — next November.

“Instead of boosting the ratings for Trump’s circus in Waco tomorrow, I would recommend Texans turn their attention to the much more immediate battles for justice happening in the Legislature — where extremist Texas Republicans are, as we speak, trying to defund Texas public schools, make voting even more burdensome and inaccessible, create an unconstitutional ‘Show Me Your Papers’ police force to roam South Texas, ban books in Texas classrooms, and further ostracize already-vulnerable LGTBQ kids.

“We have real issues to deal with here in Texas — including Republicans’ draconian abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, sky-high gun violence plaguing our communities, a rickety electric grid, an underfunded public education system, out-of-control property taxes, and inaccessible healthcare.

“We as Texas Democrats will continue to fight every day to ensure working Texas families continue to have an Administration that works for them — not a government of corrupt clowns who just want to use their office to pad their pockets and get more airtime.”

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