President Donald Trump spent part of his afternoon writing a lengthy essay on Truth Social raging against Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) who accepted a pardon from the Trump administration in an ongoing federal bribery case against himself and his wife, and then filed for re-election as a Democrat — evidently contradicting Trump’s expectation that he would either retire from office or switch to the Republican Party in gratitude for clemency.
“I never assumed he would be running for Office again, and certainly not as a Democrat, who essentially destroyed his life even with the Pardon given, but he did, and now, despite doing him by far the greatest favor of his life, 20 years of FREEDOM, I am fighting him for his seat in Congress,” Trump wrote, echoing a similar complaint he has been making for weeks before endorsing Cuellar’s Republican opponent.
Commenters and political analysts on social media reacted with varying degrees of incredulity and laughter at Trump so openly admitting he was trying to sell pardons for political favors.
“Quid pro nope,” wrote the @hechizante777 account.
“Kind of amazing that Trump never met him and just assumed he would run as a Republican after the pardon,” wrote Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman. “Everyone we spoke to up here on the Hill knew Cuellar wouldn’t run as a Republican. He definitely votes with Rs a good deal. But people close to him said he would never run as an R.”
“Funniest thing that’s happened since January 20th,” wrote Heatmap News’ Matthew Zeitlin.
“I laughed when the pardon came through,” said writer Bernard Stanford. “Trump loves pardons so much that he pardoned Cuellar without even negotiating anything.”
“Trump assumes that everything and everyone –> based on crass quid pro quo relationships,” wrote college instructor and author Anthony M. Hooper.
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