USA Latinx(HOUSTON) — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was a frequent target of Donald Trump’s Twitter ire when the two competed for the Republican nomination for president in 2016. But in an increasingly tight senate race this year, Trump has promised to campaign for Cruz in the lead-up to the November election. Now, a group of activists, including Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg, are reminding voters of Trump’s old tweets against Cruz in an effort to undermine the senator.
A GoFundMe account started by Antonio Arellano, Claude Taylor and David Hogg, and organized by USA Latinx, a Latino advocacy group, aims to raise six thousand dollars to buy a mobile billboard to display Trump’s past negative tweets about Cruz in October, when the president said he would visit Texas and hold a “major rally” for the senator. By Sunday afternoon, the GoFundMe had already surpassed its original goal, raising close to $10,000.
“So many wonderful selections to choose from… Thank you @POTUS” Hogg tweeted on Sunday, along with several screenshots of Trump tweets attacking Cruz.
Hogg rose to national prominence in February when he became one of the first students to speak out in support of gun control following the deadly shooting at his school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla., where 17 students and staff members were killed.
“Help support the billboard with Trump’s tweet about Ted Cruz outside his Texas rallies with Ted, donate here,” Hogg tweeted on Saturday, and later thanked supporters, writing, “We did it!!!!! Thank you to everyone who contributed.”
Cruz is facing a challenge from Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Tex., who is mounting an aggressive campaign and raising a significant amount of money in his bid to unseat the conservative senator.
No Democrat has been elected to statewide office in Texas since 1994, or held a Senate seat since 1993.
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