The State of Texas: Donald Trump Returns To Texas

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Every time I do a 5K, the next day I feel like a lion.”

—Tony Taddeo, of McKinney, to the Dallas Morning News. Taddeo is 91, but his age hasn’t stopped him from being in way better shape than you.

BIG NEWS

AUSTIN, TX - AUGUST 23: Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump cheer during a rally at the Travis County Exposition Center on August 23, 2016 in Austin, Texas. — Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump cheer during a rally at the Travis County Exposition Center on August 23, 2016 in Austin, Texas.Drew Anthony Smith/Getty

Back At It Again
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump returned to Texas this weekend, this time to talk to a group of advocates for victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. According to the Texas Tribune, Trump took the opportunity in Houston to “blast” Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton on immigration. “Whether it’s drugs, terrorism or violent crime, our government is utterly failing in its core mission to defend and protect the people of this country,” Trump said at the luncheon on Saturday. “The Border Patrol [union], who endorsed me, warned that Hillary Clinton’s plan would put the entire country in grave danger—they called it radical, deeply dangerous, and warned it would trigger an unprecedented national crisis.” Even though he touted the endorsement from the Border Patrol union, it should be noted that agents are hardly united behind Trump. The event was originally supposed to be open to the public and the press, but that abruptly changed this week, according to the Houston Chronicle. But Trump’s talk was still live-streamed on YouTube. Demonstrators showed up both in support of Trump and against him, and the Chronicle reported that things were pretty testy between the two groups, but it never boiled over into physical violence. There was, however, one arrest: a reporter for Vice. According to Vice News, reporter Alex Thompson was arrested in the lobby of the hotel while waiting for a Trump campaign staffer to clarify whether he’d be allowed into the event. The Trump campaign told Vice they had nothing to do with the arrest, and police said Thompson was arrested and charged with trespassing after hotel management called the police because he refused to leave the lobby. Thompson was released on bond overnight.

MEANWHILE, IN TEXAS

Gridiron Gaffes
This weekend was particularly controversial for Texas college football teams. Rice hosted Baylor on Friday, and though the game was a 38-10 blowout in favor of the Bears, there were a few wild moments far more memorable than what was playing out on the field. Former Baylor head coach Art Briles and ex-player Shawn Oakman, who currently faces sexual assault charges, both “crashed” the game, according to the Dallas Morning News, and received raucous applause from Baylor fans. During halftime, the Rice band spelled out “IX,” for Title IX, a reference to Baylor’s sexual assault scandal. Some felt it was a distasteful joke that made light of the victims of sexual assault, while others saw it as a powerful criticism of the Baylor administration. Either way, the band later apologized, saying it “may have went too far,” according to the Houston Chronicle. On Saturday night, the Texas Longhorns traveled to the West Coast to take on the California Golden Bears. The teams scored a combined 68 points in the first half, and Cal went on to a controversial win, 50-43. With 1:22 left, a Cal running back appeared to score the game-sealing touchdown, but replay showed he dropped the ball before crossing into the end zone. A Texas player nonchalantly picked up the pigskin, unaware that he was recovering an apparent fumble. But the referee made a strange ruling, saying that too much time passed between the fumble and the pickup, so it was not an “immediate recovery,” and Cal was awarded possession at the one-yard line. There were other factors that led to Texas’s upset loss, of course, like a questionable decision to punt with 1:41 left in the game, and, you know, allowing 50 points.

Burn Notice
Governor Greg Abbott finally revealed what, exactly, caused the third-degree burns on his legs in July. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Abbott was campaigning for U.S. Rep. Will Hurd when he took the opportunity to talk about his burns, which he sustained while he was taking a shower on vacation in Wyoming. “I was in a shower with scalding water on my feet,” Abbott said, according to the Express-News. “Because of my paralysis, I couldn’t feel the burns that were taking place. And as a consequence, it was like having my feet in scalding water for several minutes.” Abbott ended up missing the Republican National Convention in Cleveland later that month because he was still receiving treatment at San Antonio’s Brooke Army Medical Center, which he also took time to praise. “I got tremendous treatment from the skilled experts at Brooke Army Medical Center,” he said. “They had to do grafting on both of my feet, and it has healed miraculously.”

A Voice For The Voiceless
Austin Mayor Steve Adler gave a speech during the Texas Democratic Party’s annual dinner on Saturday night, heroically coming to the defense of a beloved subgroup that has come under fire as of late: taco trucks. Marco Gutierrez, founder of Latinos for Trump, issued a not-so-dire warning earlier this month about taco trucks potentially taking over ever street corner in the U.S., and Adler decided to weigh in on the issue. “We in this room know taco trucks for what they are: the very ambassadors of community, of justice, and of guacamole—truly all that makes life worth living, the very bedrocks of our democracy, and of our breakfast,” Adler said, according to the Austin American-Statesman. “And so I enjoin you friends to stand with me, to tell the enemies of taco trucks that we will fight them on the street corners. We will fight them in the parks. We will fight them with tortillas, cheese, and chorizo. We will fight them with growing confidence at breakfast and at lunch, and most of all, after closing time. We. Will. Never. Surrender. And when it is over, we shall say, never before have so many eaten so well so often.” Adler for president! Taco trucks for president! Apparently this may have been a “mock” speech, but we don’t know why the mayor would joke about the most important issue of our time.