May 15, 2022- 8:52 a.m.
President Donald Trump criticized Democrats for a litany of issues Saturday, including inflation and immigration, during an Austin rally where he urged conservative supporters to help the Republican Party take control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
“I ask you to get ready to work, get ready to fight, get ready to win — and win like never before,” Trump said to a crowd of thousands at the Austin Convention Center. “Together, we will take back the House, we will take the Senate, and we will take back our country.”
Despite losing reelection in 2020, Trump continues to have outsized influence among conservatives and his endorsements of candidates have carried significant clout in the Republican Party.
The GOP is slated to increase their margins in both chambers of Congress after the November elections, as the party in control of the White House has historically performed poorly in midterms.
Trump touted several of his Texas endorsements on Saturday — most notably embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton, the state official Trump called “a fighter like no other” who is facing Land Commissioner George P. Bush in a GOP primary runoff this month.
The former president also reiterated his support for Sen. Dawn Buckingham in her quest to become Texas Land Commissioner, former state Sen. Pete Flores in his campaign to reenter the Legislature, Phil Sorrells in the Tarrant County district attorney race and Frederick Frazier in House District 61.
“Our country in many ways is being destroyed,” Trump said of Democrats. “The Biden disasters are too numerous to count, but inflation is the highest in nearly 50 years.
Gas prices have reached the highest price ever in the history of our country, destroying families.”
Trump also touched on several flashpoint topics that have energized those on the far right, including public education, border security and voting integrity. He also raised his debunked false claims of the 2020 election being stolen.
“Under a Republican Congress, we will once and for all ban critical race theory in our schools and we will stand up for parental rights,” Trump said.
