Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) after a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call Inc. | Getty Images
President Donald Trump is angry that Representative Henry Cuellar is running again as a Democrat instead of changing parties after the president pardoned the Texas congressman and his wife in a federal bribery and conspiracy case.
President Trump accused Cuéllar of a “tremendous lack of loyalty” and suggested the Republican president was hoping for leniency from Republicans, who hold a slim House majority ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Cuellar said in a television interview Sunday after Trump’s social media posts that he is a conservative Democrat and is willing to work with the administration “where we can find common ground.” The congressman said he prayed for the president and his office that morning at church, saying, “If the president is successful, the country is successful, too.”
Citing fellow Texas politician, the late President Lyndon Johnson, Cuellar said he was an American, a Texan, and a Democrat, in that order. “I think anyone who puts party above country is doing a disservice to the country,” he said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
President Trump said on his Truth social platform that Democrat Joe Biden’s administration is continuing to work with “the same radical leftists” who indicted Cuéllar and who wanted him and his wife to go to jail by running again as a Democrat, saying, “They probably still do!”
“That kind of lack of loyalty isn’t going to sit well with Texas voters or Henry’s daughters. Well, next time, no more Mr. Nice Guy!” Trump said. Mr. Cuellar’s two daughters, Christina and Catherine, sent a letter to President Trump in November asking for a pardon for their parents.
President Trump said the pardons he announced Wednesday were meant to stop “weaponized” prosecutions. Mr. Cuellar has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Biden’s immigration policies, and Mr. Trump saw that position as an important alliance with the congressman.
Cuellar said he has good relationships within the party. “I think the rank-and-file Democratic caucus and I get along well, but they know I’m an independent voice,” he said.
The party change would have been an unexpected bonus for Republicans after the Republican-run Legislature redistricted the state’s congressional districts this year at the behest of President Trump. The Texas operation marked the beginning of a mid-decade gerrymandering battle that spanned multiple states. Mr. Trump is defending the Republican House majority, with Democrats gaining an upper hand in the House midterm elections, and is seeking to use the new majority to thwart his administration, launch investigations and avoid a repeat of his first term, when he impeached Mr. Trump twice.
But Mr. Cuellar’s South Texas district, which includes parts of metro San Antonio, is not one of the Democratic districts that has been significantly changed by Republicans, and Mr. Cuellar believes he is still well-positioned for re-election.
Federal authorities have charged the Cuellars with accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for lawmakers promoting the interests of an Azerbaijani-controlled energy company and a Mexican bank. Kueyar was accused of influencing legislation in favor of Azerbaijan and agreeing to give pro-Azerbaijan speeches on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mr. Cuellar maintained that his wife was innocent. The couple’s trial was scheduled to begin in April.
In an interview with Fox, Mr. Cuéllar claimed that federal authorities had tried and failed to frame him in a “sting operation to try to bribe me.”
