Trump stunt in Valley won’t overshadow riot
Only eight days remain in his presidency, and only six days have passed since a planned attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
At the same time, President Donald Trump faces impeachment for his role in a violent insurrection aimed to stop a lawful election count, and members of his administration are jumping ship to salvage their reputations.
All while a pandemic ravages the nation, and insurrectionists plan more uprisings in Washington and the nation’s state capitols.
Yet, in these waning days of a dangerous presidency, he seeks not to stop the violence but deflect attention from it by reaching back into his playbook.
As a farewell tour, one as bizarre as his golden escalator ride at the start of his candidacy, Trump has chosen South Texas as a stop to “dedicate” a portion of new border fencing.
The fencing is in a town of no more than 20,000 called Alamo in Hidalgo County, where COVID-19 cases have quadrupled.
The trip sounds surreal.
Trump has chosen such a place with such a name in an attempt to change the dangerous narratives swirling around him.
A publicity stunt won’t turn cameras away from last Wednesday’s events, when the Capitol was overtaken and ransacked, leaving five dead.
As more suspects are identified and arrested, the story of a failed attack seeking to upend a valid election are more likely to grow rather than dissipate.
Scant details were available about Trump’s visit, and some officials learned there’s a “40 percent chance” the president won’t travel.
But Hidalgo County spokesman Carlos Sanchez said Monday the extraordinary measures undertaken for any presidential visit were in place.
Law enforcement will be out in force, he said.
A Hidalgo Republican Party official said a 10:30 a.m. “Trump train” will gather at the old McAllen Civic Center and parade through the city’s old business district.
A small Trump caravan occurred Sunday without incident, Sanchez said.
Aron L. Peña, a South Texas business consultant who has worked for Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas General Land Office Commissioner George P. Bush, says he has never seen such visible support for a Republican president in the Rio Grande Valley.
“It never hurts,” he said, of any visit by a world leader to a place racked by poverty and poor infrastructure. “It’s always a good thing.”
He also praised the border wall, which Trump views as one of his greatest achievements. Evidence of that is scant, too. About 452 miles of border barrier has been replaced and updated, but only about 12 miles of it are new. It cost $15 billion.
Mexico did not pay for it. Congress provided $4.5 billion and the rest was reassigned by Trump from Pentagon budgets.
Trump supporters like Peña celebrate the border wall for lowering illegal immigration and creating jobs. They’ve supported the Trump administration’s support of increased border enforcement, leading to more jobs on the border.
Peña drew a direct line from border enforcement agencies to new Republican gains in the Valley.
New, younger Republican voters at the college level helped keep Texas in the Republican column. He noted the creation of a teen GOP group in the Valley, too.
“They’re the children of Border Patrol agents,” he said.
“They’re the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers whose instinct is to defend those who risk their lives daily.”
Peña denounced the violence at the U.S. Capitol but said “the actions by the few” shouldn’t represent “thousands of peaceful protesters.”
He said the violence could have been averted had Congress allowed more time to investigate election fraud before certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
“There’s blame on both parties,” he said. “We’ll come to see that Trump was ahead of his time.”
Peña speaks with unwavering conviction, never allowing for the central idea of Trump’s presidency. That it was built on lies.
Trump’s lies about rigged election results incited last week’s rioting and the feared events planned against incoming President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The town of Alamo has been known as “the Refuge of the Valley,” because it’s the home of the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.
But it will give Trump little refuge.
U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-mcallen, whose district includes the town of Alamo, defined the trip perfectly: an attempt to distract us on the taxpayers’ dime.