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.
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.
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.
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.
