Trump and Beto square off in Texas again

Rachel Zein and Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune

President Donald Trump and Beto O’Rourke will hold dueling rallies in Dallas on Thursday. The incumbent president and former congressman will both be courting Texas voters in a hope to win Texas’ 38 electoral votes in 2020. 

Since O’Rourke narrowly lost the statewide Senate race to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, Cruz’s margin of victory was less than 3 percentage points,  Democratic leaders have been calling Texas a battleground state. 

Trump will be stumping at the American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., at 7 p.m. for thousands of expected attendees.  O’Rourke’s rally, which he’s calling a “Rally Against Fear,” is scheduled for 6 p.m. at The Theatre at Grand Prairie, about 14 miles from Trump’s rally. 

Trump has made frequent visits to Texas since taking office. He visited El Paso in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at a Walmart — a trip that was opposed by many including O’Rourke who spoke at an opposition rally. 

Trump’s most recent trip to Houston was in September when he came for an event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Thursday’s trip marks the first time the president will visit Texas since the launch of an impeachment inquiry into conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.