President Trump announced late last month he would show up for a campaign rally for Sen. Ted Cruz this fall after one his fellow Texas Republicans sent a call for aid to the White House, according to a report Sunday.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited Washington, D.C., in late July and implored White House officials to send Trump to Texas to give a boost to Cruz and the rest of the GOP ticket in Texas. Cruz, who had been a GOP rival to Trump in the 2016 primaries, is facing a surprisingly competitive Democratic opponent in Rep. Beto O’Rourke. Generating mass excitement among Democrats across the country as they try to take control one or both chambers of Congress, O’Rourke has raised millions of dollars.
It was after that plea sent by Patrick, who served as Trump’s Texas chairman for the 2016 election, that Trump announced he would attend a “major rally” for Cruz in October, Politico reports.
Trump’s planned rally highlights how concerned Republicans have become about keeping the seat. Recent polling show Cruz in a dead heat against O’Rourke.
Meanwhile, Michael Avenatti is planning a “resistance” rally in Texas at the same time Trump plans to to campaign for Cruz. In a tweet, the lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels encouraged “all groups” to join and stressed the need to “fight fire with fire.”
