A Republican congressman from Texas has turned on one of his own, blaming former President Donald Trump for what he calls the “mess” that’s happening at the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
Appearing Tuesday on CNN, Representative Chip Roy praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the leadership he’s displayed in his state. He also was quick to blast Trump for deciding not to attend any of the Republican Party’s primary debates..
As Roy said:
“President Trump also failed to actually fully secure the border. If he had worked with conservatives to get bills passed in 2018 and 2019, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in right now.”
In 2023, border agents have had more than 2.4 million encounters with illegal migrants at the southern border alone, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. That’s a big increase from each of the last two fiscal years.
In 2022, there were 2.3 million total encounters, and in 2021, there were 1.7 million.
An encounter with a migrant is defined by CBP as the total number of people that they apprehend, deem not admissible to the U.S. and then process to be deported.
The Texas representative commented further about recent apprehensions that have happened at the border with Mexico, saying:
“We should have stopped this years ago. President Trump could have done that if he led Congress to get something done. That didn’t happen.”
While Roy is a Republican, he and Trump clearly don’t see eye-to-eye. Earlier this week, Trump asked on his social media platform Truth Social whether there were other Republicans who were planning to run against Roy in the upcoming election.
Trump wrote:
“Has any smart and energetic Republican in the Great State of Texas decided to run in the Primary against RINO (Republican in name only) Congressman Chip Roy. For the right person, he is very beatable. If interested, let me know!!”
Since leaving the White House in 2021, Trump has become very involved in local politics throughout the country. He has endorsed more candidates than any other president before him, and helped some overcome major incumbents. That’s what happened in Wyoming, for instance, when incumbent Republican Representative Liz Cheney couldn’t even win the GOP primary.
Unfortunately for Trump, any challenger to Roy would’ve had to officially file as a candidate by December 11.
After Trump posted his message online, DeSantis came to Roy’s defense. The Florida governor posted:
“While @chiproytx is fighting to do what Donald Trump promised to do — secure our southern border — the former president is on social media demanding a primary challenge to one of the most conservative members of Congress (even though the Texas primary filing deadline was over a week ago).
“I stand with Chip and am honored to have his support. The time for talking is over. We must stop the invasion, and I will get it done.”
Roy also has the support of Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who posted on the social media platform X:
“He fights for what he believes and he’s one of the most conservative members of Congress. I can tell you with certainty that this shortsighted effort to intimidate Chip will not work.”
