President Donald Trump is scrambling to put distance between himself and a fresh public embarrassment. Pressed directly by reporters, he zigzagged through denials and deflections until the contradictions piled up — either he’s blithely unaware of his own social media posts, he’s unwilling to acknowledge a clear misstep, or retreating into the reflexive fog he uses whenever the answer doesn’t serve him.
Whatever the explanation, the performance made one thing unmistakable: Trump wasn’t correcting the record, he was trying to outrun it.
On Sunday, Jan. 3, Trump was pretending he had no idea Texas voters had just handed him another political rebuke — even though he had personally urged those same voters just hours earlier to turn out for the Republican candidate he endorsed.
Asked about the surprise Democratic win in a Texas state Senate district he had carried by 17 points in 2024, Trump played dumb, suggesting he was unaware of both the race and its outcome.
“I don’t know. I didn’t hear about it. Somebody ran — where?” Trump said when pressed for a reaction.
As reporters clarified that a Democrat had just won a special election runoff in Texas, Trump waved off the loss as something he had nothing to do with, framing it as a purely local matter and minimizing its significance.
“I’m not involved in that. That’s a local Texas race. You mean I won by 17? And this person lost? Things like that happen,” Trump shrugged.
“You don’t know whether or not it’s transferrable, you know, I’m not on the ballot … No, I don’t know anything about it,” he added. “I didn’t know, I mean, I know there’s a race going there, and uh, it’s too bad, I mean what can I say? I have nothing to do with it.”
Trump’s posture directly contradicted his actions the day before, when he loudly inserted himself into the race and pushed supporters to the polls with a full-throated endorsement of Republican Leigh Wambsganss, a candidate he later claimed not to know anything about.
But in a Truth Social post early Saturday with his classic signature, Trump wrote in part, “Today is the day! To all Voters in Texas’ 9th State Senate District: GET OUT AND VOTE for a phenomenal Candidate, Leigh Wambsganss,” “She is a highly successful Entrepreneur, and an incredible supporter of our Movement to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN … KEEP TEXAS RED!”
By Saturday night, the race ended with a Democrat flipping the district Republicans had expected to hold comfortably.
The winner, Fort Worth Democrat Taylor Rehmet, defeated Wambsganss to fill the vacant Senate seat. A machinist and Air Force veteran, Rehmet prevailed in a district Trump had carried by a margin Republicans believed would easily translate into a GOP win just over a year later.
Saturday’s final outcome only sharpened that message — and Trump’s attempt to distance himself from it didn’t go unnoticed.
Social media erupted with disbelief and mockery as users called out Trump’s endorsement next to his sudden amnesia.
“This is the most Trump sh-t ever… He’s either lying, or the dementia kicked in again.”
Others pointed out the obvious contradiction.
“You endorsed her, dumbass,” one person fumed.
And more evidence supporting the theory that someone else is behind Trump’s social media posts, “especially the longer ones, as a critic stated and another added, “Not only does Trump not bothered to write most of his posts, he doesn’t bother to read most of them either.”
“I guess President Miller hasn’t told him yet,” another mocked.
The pile on continued, “Wow! He’s so low energy, no plan, no enthusiasm, no momentum. His team is writing his posts and it seems, they are too scared to tell him about bad results. TOTALLY COOKED”
Another reaction laid out what critics say is Trump’s familiar escape hatch when an election result reflects poorly on him.
“Trump’s answer is pure deflection. He pretends he ‘didn’t hear about it,’ shrugs that he ‘wasn’t on the ballot,’ and minimizes a real warning sign. A district he won by 17 points flipped anyway — that’s the story. Instead of owning that his brand drives turnout and backlash down-ballot, he distances himself and lowers the standard: if his name isn’t listed, it doesn’t count. Same playbook every time!”
The result immediately raised alarms inside GOP circles. The contest had gone to a runoff after no candidate secured a majority in the November election, and Rehmet’s strong showing then had already rattled party leaders. In the weeks that followed, Republican heavyweights rushed in to prop up Wambsganss, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Trump himself.
“When a grassroots union organizer like Taylor Rehmet overperforms by almost 20 points and forces a runoff, it couldn’t be any clearer that voters are tired of Republican bullsh-t,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder said in a statement after the November race, according to The Hill.
The Texas upset lands at a sensitive moment for Republicans.
While Trump remains the dominant force in the party, Democrats have been searching for concrete evidence that his influence is weakening — particularly in suburban districts and special elections where turnout can swing fast.
Rehmet’s win will likely feed Democratic optimism heading into the November midterms, as party leaders look for signs they can capitalize on voter unease over the economy and anger over Trump’s immigration policies. Flipping a deep-red district, even in a low-turnout runoff, gives them a talking point they have often lacked.
For Republicans, the loss underscores a growing tension: Trump’s endorsements still carry weight, but they also tie every outcome directly to him. When a candidate wins, he claims credit. When a candidate loses, the story often changes.
The seat became vacant after Republican state Sen. Kelly Hancock was tapped as acting state comptroller, setting off the special election. What followed instead was a race that turned into a test of Trump’s pull — and a reminder that even districts drawn to favor Republicans are not immune to backlash.
Great Job A.L. Lee & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star for sharing this story.
