At least six demonstrators interrupted Donald Trump’s campaign rally in San Antonio on Wednesday, forcing the former president to pause his remarks as he urged Texas voters to support Senate candidate Ken Paxton. One protester was escorted out by police after appearing to approach the stage; an older supporter later struck him as he left the venue. Trump briefly stepped away from the microphone before returning to say, “He’s going back home to mom,” and added, “But what he doesn’t know is his mom voted for Trump.”

Supporters in the crowd waved cowboy hats and chanted “USA,” drowning out some of the dissent. The president told protesters to “get the hell out of here,” mocked their appearance, and claimed without evidence that “they’re paid by enemies of our nation.”

During the rally, Trump referenced recent comments in which he suggested Iran could strike Los Angeles or San Diego, drawing condemnation from Democratic leaders. He said, “I said it the other day, let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles on the way. Let them hit – you want to see a horror show? You want to see problems? Let them hit San Diego. Let them hit Los Angeles and you want to see some bad things happen. You want to see a country that would be in freefall. We’re not going to let that happen. We protect our cities, we protect our country, we’re not letting that happen. And they’d use it, too. They’d use it.”

This marked Trump’s third visit to Texas within a month as Republicans allocate significant resources to races they had previously considered safe ahead of the November midterms. Paxton, the state’s attorney general and a Trump-endorsed candidate, was introduced on stage and thanked the former president for his support. “Mr President, I want to thank you for coming for me, for coming for us, and for coming for Texas,” Paxton said. “We are going to win this race.” Trump described Paxton as “perhaps the greatest attorney general in the United States of America,” and praised his loyalty.

A New York Times/Siena College poll released the previous weekend indicated that Democrat James Talarico led Paxton 51% to 45% among likely voters, signaling a competitive race in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988. Trump won Texas by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024, but his approval rating has declined; a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Monday placed his approval at 32%, with registered voters favoring Democrats over Republicans 44%-37%.

Trump’s relationship with Paxton has been intermittently strained. Last week, he referred to Paxton as “a pain in the ass sometimes,” though he did not address a leaked recording in which Paxton criticized the campaign’s handling of Iran-related issues, rising fuel costs, and internal strategy. Instead, the rally focused on attacking Talarico, whom Trump repeatedly called “Tala-freako.” He alleged without evidence that Talarico, a vegan, had recently collapsed after being “forced to eat meat for political reasons and he’s throwing up all over the place.”

The president declared, “The people of Texas are not going to let weak, gutless, self-hating, transgender-promoting freak shows destroy everything that we’ve built.” His appearance was notable for the absence of Governor Greg Abbott, a prominent Trump ally who is engaged in a competitive re-election campaign against Democratic state representative Gina Hinojosa. Abbott instead attended a hospital dedication approximately 330 miles away, a decision Democrats highlighted as a snub.

Republicans have invested over $300 million in Texas elections, according to the Associated Press, as part of a broader 32-day campaign tour that has also included stops in Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio, and Nebraska.