President Trump last week announced plans to hit the campaign trail next month in Texas to stump for Senator Ted Cruz’s lagging campaign.
Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg is calling B.S.
I will be doing a major rally for Senator Ted Cruz in October. I’m picking the biggest stadium in Texas we can find. As you know, Ted has my complete and total Endorsement. His opponent is a disaster for Texas – weak on Second Amendment, Crime, Borders, Military, and Vets!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2018
Hogg, a recent graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, has become an outspoken political activist since surviving a February shooting rampage there that claimed the lives of 17 classmates and teachers.
Part of his political advocacy has involved encouraging more young people to register to vote. At times, it has also meant holding the feet of politicians and other politically powerful people to the fire — like when he sponsored a successful effort this past spring to convince advertisers to abandon Laura Ingraham’s prime time show on Fox News.
In the case of Cruz, Hogg has helped raise nearly $10,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to erect a billboard in Texas displaying a 2016 tweet from President Trump attacking the senator, according to a report in Axios on Sunday.
“Why would the people of Texas support Ted Cruz when he has accomplished absolutely nothing for them. He is another all talk, no action pol!” the February 2016 tweet reads, quoting Trump’s own words.
Why would the people of Texas support Ted Cruz when he has accomplished absolutely nothing for them. He is another all talk, no action pol!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2016
Hogg, the founder Never Again MSD, a group dedicated to reducing senseless gun violence, is just 18, but he’s nevertheless old enough to remember the heated 2016 Republican presidential nomination race, when Cruz attacked Trump as a sniveling coward.
Trump was, in turn, fond of belittling Cruz during the bitter campaign as “Lyin’ Ted, and attacked both Cruz’s father and wife.
But that animosity has taken a hiatus during the 2018 Senate race, which has seen Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke give Cruz an unexpectedly tough challenge. An Emerson College poll last week had Cruz ahead of O’Rourke by just one point. That, in ruby red Texas. And while Cruz would be both the literal and figurative loser should his seat swap parties, a win by O’Rourke would also be another embarrassment for Trump.
The text of the GoFundMe appeal reads:
“President Donald Trump will be campaigning to help Sen. Ted Cruz win his re-election. A rally is being planned, according to Trump ‘at the biggest stadium in Texas.’ We are planning to display the presidents own words about Cruz from 2016 on a mobile billboard, to remind Texans of the truth.”
The joint effort also credits Antonio Arellano for working with Hogg and Claude Taylor on the campaign.
“The money raised by this account will go towards funding the mobile billboard to maximize visibility and impact,” the GoFundMe post reads. “Please consider donating. Every dollar counts. Texans deserve better.”