First there was reportedly one, now there’s actually six. And they’re hot and Castro just lost a lot of money in the future.
In attempting to embarrass constituents who donated to President Trump, Texas congressman Joaquin Castro appears to have overlooked the fact that six of those he named also gave cash to him and his twin brother, 2020 Democrat Julián Castro.
Joaquin Castro on Monday drew a torrent of criticism when the Twitter account operated by his reelection campaign listed 44 residents of San Antonio who donated the maximum amount to President Trump’s campaign for reelection so far this year.
“Sad to see so many San Antonians as 2019 maximum donors to Donald Trump — the owner of @BillMillerBarBQ, owner of the @HistoricPearl, realtor Phyllis Browning, etc.” the Monday tweet said. “Their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders.'”
Rep. Joaquin Castro and Julián Castro, a former Housing and Urban Development secretary, are outspoken Trump critics. The brothers, 44, regularly denounce Trump for his administration’s immigration policies along the U.S.-Mexico border, and since this past weekend have laid blame on the president for the shootings in El Paso, Texas, which claimed 22 lives, and Dayton, Ohio, where nine were killed.
Joaquin Castro may be creating political liabilities for himself by alienating his own constituents and donor base, all in an effort to brand those very same political givers as effectively racist for backing Trump in 2020.
A Washington Examiner review of Federal Elections Committee filings found three individuals on the list who gave $5,600 to Trump, the maximum available by law for the primary and general election, and Joaquin Castro, a congressman from San Antonio who also leads the presidential campaign of his brother, a former San Antonio mayor.
Another three individuals on the list told the Washington Examiner that they supported Julián Castro’s mayoral campaigns. Julián Castro served as San Antonio mayor from 2009 to 2014, before being tapped as HUD secretary for the final two-and-a-half years of President Barack Obama’s administration.
The congressman’s approach left many of the San Antonio-area Trump donors on the list who gave to the Castro brothers angered and hurt.
“It is just amazing to me that he would do that,” said William Greehey, a philanthropist and former CEO of Valero Energy, who donated $5,000 to Joaquin Castro’s congressional campaign in 2013, covering the primary and general elections.