President Donald Trump on Sunday posted a fiery missive targeting Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, to whom he recently handed a pardon, after the representative said he would not be switching parties ahead of his reelection campaign.
“Such a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, will not like,” Trump said in a lengthy Truth Social post. “Oh well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”
Cuellar, a south Texas Democrat, was indicted in May 2024 on charges of bribery, money laundering, and acting as a foreign agent after he was accused of taking around $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled oil company and a Mexican bank in exchange for influencing policy.
In an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Cuellar, who has long maintained his innocence, said his party ties don’t dictate his decisions.
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“I don’t vote party,” Cuellar said. “I vote for what’s right for the country.”
When asked if he would consider switching parties, Cuellar said “Look, I’m a Democrat.”
In Sunday morning’s Truth Social post, Trump said that it was a personal letter from Cuellar’s children that prompted him to issue the full pardon.
“I never spoke to the Congressman, his wife, or his daughters, but felt very good about fighting for a family that was tormented by very sick and deranged people - They were treated sooo BADLY!” Trump posted. “I signed the papers, and said to people in the Oval Office that I just did a very good, perhaps life saving, thing. God was very happy with me that day! THEN IT HAPPENED!!”
NOTUS reported on Wednesday that Trump’s pardon shocked many state and national Republicans looking to flip the south Texas seat.
“He’s definitely a more formidable opponent without the legal cloud hanging over him,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson told NOTUS.
Cuellar announced his re-election campaign on Wednesday — as a Democrat — immediately after learning the news of his pardon.
“It came as a surprise,” Cuellar told a small group of reporters. “I want to thank President Trump for this… Now we clear the air. Nothing has changed, and we’re going to be ready to win re-election again.”
“Nothing has changed — I’m a good old conservative Democrat,” Cuellar said Wednesday.
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