At the Peterbilt Motors truck manufacturing plant in Denton, President Donald Trump touted his economic policies, including his tariffs on trucks.
Before hundreds of workers there, Mr. Trump shared a brief conversation he had with Preston Feight, CEO of PACCAR, which owns Peterbilt.
“He said your policies here made this place so successful,” Mr. Trump said. “Without your policies, we’d be a whole different ballgame, and I want to thank you. You’ve let us thrive.”
The President implemented his truck tariffs last year, and in that time, PACCAR representatives told the crowd that it allowed them to hire an additional 1,000 workers.
CBS News Texas
Mr. Trump also highlighted that Congress made the tax cuts for families and businesses from his first administration permanent last year and added no tax on tips and overtime.
In addition, he urged supporters to back Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who’s in a fierce battle against Democrat James Talarico. The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Talarico ahead of Paxton by 2.7 percentage points, 47.4 percent to 44.7 percent.
Mr. Trump called Paxton, “One of the most loyal people. When I was being hit by the radical left very hard, very few people could have withstood it. Ken Paxton was at my side more than anybody. I have to always remember that because he could be a pain in the ass sometimes. The guy is the greatest Attorney General in the United States of America. We’ve got to get this guy elected.”
Both Mr. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance remain focused on keeping Texas red. But high food, gas, and diesel prices have created political headwinds for Republicans here in Texas, and it’s one of the reasons the Lone Star State has become a battleground state this year.
Like Mr. Trump, Vice President Vance traveled to Harlingen on Wednesday, his second visit to Texas in less than three weeks. Both of them headlined the first-ever RNC midterm convention in Dallas. Vance touted a secure border, falling violent crime, and manufacturing jobs.
“We’re investing and breaking ground on new factories,” Vance said. “We are building new facilities that are going to be filled with American workers, and they’re going to be building everything of the future.”
He also sharply criticized Talarico and his religious views.
“It’s not about grace or the redemptive power of Christ’s sacrifice,” Vance said. “It’s about crazy left-wing politics. His real religion is not about Jesus. His real religion is about the radical left in this country.”
During a late-August interview with CBS News Texas, Talarico said he wouldn’t engage in name-calling or other criticism of Mr. Trump because he was focusing his campaign on making life more affordable for Texans.
State Rep. Ramon Romero, Jr., D-Fort Worth, told CBS News Texas that Mr. Trump and the vice president have recently made their second trip to Texas because Republicans are nervous about the Senate race, the Hispanic vote, and the economy.
“The promise was that we would be in the best economy, that everything was going to be cheaper, everything’s going to be better. We’re seeing the absolute opposite,” Romero said. “Look at the polls right now. Latinos are two to one for Talarico over Paxton. I think it’s really just the reality of where we are economically.”
Republican State Rep. Andy Hopper, whose district includes Peterbilt Motors in Denton, where Mr. Trump spoke, acknowledged to CBS News Texas that his party has faced an enthusiasm problem.
But he said he is more optimistic now.
“I think that we finally turned the corner on that. I think Republican voters are alarmed,” Hopper said. “Who are they going to choose to defend their values? I think that they’re absolutely going to choose Republicans.”
To keep Republicans energized, a person familiar with the situation tells me the RNC will hold 30 rallies featuring Mr. Trump through Election Day, and that Mr. Trump will return to Texas.
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