The Daily Caller
written by Peter Hasson, Senior Reporter
Tuesday August 6, 2019
Democratic Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro on Monday tweeted the names and employers of 44 San Antonio residents who donated the federal maximum to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.
Castro, whose district includes much of San Antonio, claimed the donors “are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders.'” Castro is the twin brother of Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro and chairs his presidential campaign.
“Sad to see so many San Antonians as 2019 maximum donors to Donald Trump,” the congressman wrote, proceeding to name local businesses whose owners gave the maximum to Trump’s campaign. Eleven of the 44 donors shown in Rep. Castro’s post listed their employment as “retired.”
Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh is demanding Castro delete the post.
“Democrats want to talk about inciting violence? This naming of private citizens and their employers is reckless and irresponsible. He is endangering the safety of people he is supposed to be representing,” Murtaugh told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“No one should be targeted for exercising their First Amendment rights or for their political beliefs. He should delete the tweet, apologize, and his brother’s campaign should disavow it,” Murtaugh continued.
Murtaugh added that the campaign reported Castro’s tweet to Twitter for “targeted harassment.”
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise was harshly critical of Rep. Castro as well, warning the Democratic congressman: “This isn’t a game. It’s dangerous, and lives are at stake. I know this firsthand.”
The names and employers of campaign donors are publicly available in Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, but publishing lists of opposing donors in the area and their places of employment, is outside the norm for members of the House of Representatives.
Neither Castro’s presidential campaign nor Rep. Castro’s congressional office returned requests for comment.
Castro later doubled down on his decision to publish the list, comparing it to media coverage of large campaign donors.
Washington Examiner
written by Emily Larsen & Joseph Simonson
Wednesday August 7, 2019
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.
“Then he's calling me a racist because I'm supporting Trump. I mean, this is just ridiculous.” said Greehey, who noted he started a $100 million homeless campus project that mostly serves Hispanic individuals. “There's a lot of things you don't like about the president and his tweeting, but here Castro is doing the same thing with his tweeting.”
Joaquin Castro did not respond to a request for comment through the presidential campaign of his brother, who, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, languishes in the Democratic field with 1% support.
Edward Steves, owner of a manufacturing firm that he said is the oldest company in San Antonio, told the Washington Examiner that he once hosted a fundraiser at his house that raised over $300,000 for Julián Castro’s mayoral campaign.
But Joaquin's tweet and follow-up statements chastising local Trump donors may backfire for his own reelection races, Steves said.
“He's probably got 44 people that are going to contribute heavily to whoever might run against him in the primaries,” Steves said.
Donald Kuyrkendall, president of a San Antonio commercial real estate company, shared concern about his family's safety and wondered what the Castro brothers hoped to gain by the Twitter outing of Trump donors.
“Were his intentions to incite people to picket Bill Miller's barbecue or to come to Don Kuyrkendall’s house, you know, assault my wife, make nasty comments?” Kuyrkendall said.
Kuyrkendall said that in wake of the tweet, his lawyer reminded him that he once donated to Julián Castro's mayoral campaign.
“Life is short and this kind of silliness is not good for anybody, especially with the climate we have right now with two mass shootings in a weekend,” Kuyrkendall said. “There's just no reason to highlight individuals and their companies as being some kind of, I don't even know what he thinks we are, bad guys because we support Republicans?”
“I'm just hopeful that none of this gets serious and that my grandchildren and children will be not intimidated by this stuff,” Kuyrkendall said.
Wayne Harwell, who gave $1,000 Joaquin Castro in 2011, then a state representative who would win his House seat the next year, emphasized his enduring financial support for Trump.
“I sure will not give to Castro any more,” he said. “Trump has helped our country have economic prosperity. I support his efforts although I may not support each word, I like the results of his efforts for America.”
Ed Kelley, retired former president and CEO of USAA Real Estate, said that he supported Julián Castro's mayoral campaign in the past and considers him a friend, though he does not know Joaquin that well. The tweet "did not leave a good taste in my mouth" and "was not something I appreciated," Kelley said.
Gregory Kowalski, another individual on the list who gave $1,421 to Joaquin Castro's campaign in 2011, did not respond to request for comment.
The Daily Caller
written by Jake Dima and Peter Hasson
Wednesday August 7, 2019
“Sickening.” “Dangerous.” “Pitiful.”
That’s how two retirees targeted by Democratic Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro described the congressman’s decision to publish the names of 44 Trump donors in San Antonio area. Both women spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fears of political violence and harassment.
In addition to posting the list of local Trump donors, Castro singled out two local businesses for their owners’ Trump donations, as well as a local realtor. “Their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders,'” he wrote on Twitter.
“I think what he did is sickening. I think it’s disgusting,” one retiree, herself an immigrant, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a phone interview.
“I’m a naturalized citizen, I love the United States of America, I think our president is doing an amazing job. He’s not a racist, I’m not a racist, and for them to be totally trying to be brainwash people, I think it’s just garbage. I think it’s just going to backfire on them, really,” she added.
The woman said Castro’s post shows “how overboard [Democrats] have gone.”
“It’s upside down, it’s like they’ve gone off the deep end, because a lot of my Democratic friends are not quite walking away yet, but they are so turned off by what’s going on. I don’t think they’re going to vote,” she said. “I don’t think they’ll vote for Trump, but they’re not going to vote for the Democrats.”
The second retiree, aged 79, said she was “shocked” when she found out Castro tweeted her name to his followers.
“I think it’s really pitiful, it shows what he is or what he believes in and what he does, so it’s really disappointing,” she said, adding that she wants Castro to apologize and delete his post.
“I’ve had several phone calls this morning and people who have not donated to Trump, have said they’re going to. This has made them decide. It’s backfiring,” she continued.
In addition to serving in Congress, Castro serves as the presidential campaign chairman for his twin brother, former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro.
Castro doubled and tripled down on his decision to publish the list.
He said on MSNBC Wednesday that he hopes Trump donors “think twice” before donating to the president’s re-election campaign, while adding that he “didn’t create the graphic.”
