Trump calls pardoned Rep. Cuellar a 'loser' and backs Tano Tijerina ahead of San Antonio rally

Mixed · 2On Wednesday 7 October, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social attacking Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) as "disloyal and ungrateful" and calling Cuellar "a LOSER". 1 2 Mixed · 2Trump wrote that Cuellar "should be serving a longterm jail sentence with his wife in a top level penitentiary". 1 2 Mixed · 2The post promoted Cuellar's Republican challenger, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, whom Trump called "a STAR" and said he hoped would win. 1 2

Mixed · 2Trump pardoned Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, in December 2025; the couple had faced charges of bribery and money laundering, with the allegation of roughly $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company tied to Azerbaijan's government and a Mexico City bank, as reported by Texas Public Radio. 1 2 Mixed · 2Trump said he "made no deal" over the pardons but had expected Cuellar "would have routinely gone over to the Republican Party"; Cuellar instead filed for reelection as a Democrat, which Trump called "a tremendous act of disloyalty". 1 2 Left · 1Raw Story noted the tone reversed from January, when Trump, according to the Houston Chronicle, said Cuellar deserved to lose but was "not somebody who should be serving a 20 year jail sentence". 1

Left · 1Trump also claimed Cuellar's brother, Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar, was indicted "a short time later" on the same charges; Raw Story, citing the Texas Tribune, said a federal grand jury indicted the sheriff in November, before the pardon, over a COVID-era disinfecting business using county resources, and that the sheriff has pleaded not guilty. 1 Mixed · 2Trump posted before speaking at a rally in San Antonio, his third Texas trip in less than a month ahead of the midterms; Tijerina replied on X that "anything after Hello coming from Henry Cuellar is a lie". 1 2 Right · 1Fox News Digital said it had asked Cuellar's campaign for comment on Thursday; no response is reported. 2