Trump endorses candidate running against a lawmaker he pardoned

President Donald Trump on Tuesday endorsed a Republican candidate seeking to unseat Rep. Henry Cuellar, the Texas Democrat he pardoned last month.

In his endorsement of Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, Trump slammed Cuellar for what he called “disloyalty” over his decision to seek re-election as a Democrat after having been pardoned.

Trump said he never thought Cuellar would seek public office again. Cuellar, who was indicted in 2024 on federal bribery, wire fraud and money laundering charges, has said he did not make a deal with Trump in exchange for the pardon.

Cuellar thanked Trump again for the pardon in a statement Tuesday but did not comment on his endorsement of Tijerina or his accusations of disloyalty.

“As mentioned previously, my family and I thank President Trump for his pardon,” Cuellar said.

“I look forward to a resounding victory in November,” he added.

Tijerina did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He posted about Trump’s endorsement on X, saying he was “honored” to have his support.

“Together, we are going to take South Texas back and put America First,” Tijerina wrote.

Tijerina is a former minor league baseball player who was first elected to the county judge position in 2014 as a Democrat (county chief executives are called judges in Texas). He switched his affiliation to Republican in 2024 on Fox News.

Trump’s endorsement came hours after he predicted that he will be impeached if Republicans fail to keep their majority in Congress during the November midterm elections.

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In two lengthy posts Tuesday night, Trump blasted Cuellar.

“I don’t know why, but the fact that Henry Cuellar would be running against Donald J. Trump, and the Republican Party, seems to be a great act of disloyalty and, perhaps more importantly, the act of a fool who would immediately go back to a Political Party, the Radical Left Democrats, whose views are different from his, but not nearly good or strong enough to be a true Republican,” Trump wrote about Cuellar, who has advocated for tougher border laws and co-chaired a task force called Democrats for Border Security.

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Cuellar filed to run for re-election as a Democrat the week after Trump pardoned him, drawing Trump’s ire at the time for the decision.

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Trump said Tuesday that if he had to make the choice again, he would pardon Cuellar but that he “deserves to be beaten badly in the upcoming election.”

“Henry should not be allowed to serve in Congress again,” Trump wrote. “Tano’s views are stronger, better, and far less tainted than Henry’s, and he has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Representative from Texas’ 28th Congressional District.”

In a follow-up post, Trump posted photos of letters in which Cuellar’s daughters asked him to pardon their parents. Trump last month pardoned Cuellar's wife, Imelda, who also faced charges.

In his post, Trump reiterated his previous allegation that the Biden-era Justice Department's prosecution of Cuellar was politically motivated.

Cuellar had made similar allegations, saying last month that the case against him was “absolutely” connected to his critical remarks about the Biden administration's border policies.

Prosecutors alleged in 2024 that Cuellar and his wife accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani oil and gas company and a Mexican bank to take official acts that would benefit the companies. The couple denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

Cuellar was first elected to Congress in 2004. He won re-election in 2024 with 52.8% of the vote.

Primaries in the 28th Congressional District are scheduled for early March. Other candidates are running for the Democratic and Republican nominations, including businesswoman Eileen Day, who is running as a Republican, and businessman Andrew Vantine and military veteran Ricardo Villarreal, who are running as Democrats.