Protesters Disrupt Trump Rally; Abbott Skips Texas Event — SkimNews
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- Protesters interrupted Trump's October 7, 2026 rally at San Antonio's Freeman Coliseum at least a dozen times, with one demonstrator getting close to the stage and prompting Trump to briefly step away from the microphone.
- Trump used the rally to clarify his earlier remarks about bombing an American city, saying "Let them hit San Diego, let them in Los Angeles" and warning that Iran might attempt a missile strike on a U.S. city.
- Gov. Greg Abbott notably skipped the rally to attend a hospital dedication 330 miles away—a sign of Trump's diminished standing that Democrats immediately seized on.
- James Talarico's fundraising surge and Trump's low approval ratings have put the Texas Senate race "squarely in play," even though no Democrat has won a Texas Senate seat since 1988.
- Trump spent most of his remarks attacking Talarico, calling him "Tala-freako," and made no mention of a leaked recording of Paxton lamenting the Iran war and rising fuel prices.
- Republicans have poured more than $300 million into Texas elections this cycle—unprecedented for a state Trump won by 14 points in 2024—and Trump has visited the state three times in under a month.
Why it matters: Abbott's decision to skip a Trump rally—he won his last race by 11 points and won reelection in 2022 by a similar margin—signals that even top Texas Republicans see electoral risk in being publicly tied to the president. With $300 million already spent in a state Trump carried by 14 points and no Democrat winning a Texas Senate seat since 1988, the GOP is treating a onetime-safe seat as a real toss-up just 30 days before midterms.
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