Patrick Blasts Phelan’s Leadership, Champions Trump At Texas GOP Event

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick sharply criticized Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan and praised former President Donald Trump after accompanying him to his New York trial for two days.

Dan Patrick addressed an enthusiastic crowd at the Republican Party of Texas convention in San Antonio on Thursday. At the convention, other prominent GOP figures such as party chairman Matt Rinaldi and Attorney General Ken Paxton blasted Phelan and called for a change in leadership in the Texas House.

“I do not want to run the House,” said Patrick, who leads the Senate, “but I want a conservative Republican to be speaker who will run the House.”

According to the Dallas Morning News, many in the crowd booed Phelan as Patrick spoke.

Patrick has openly criticized Phelan during the legislative session, and last month his campaign donated $100,000 to Phelan’s primary runoff challenger, David Covey.

Phelan is currently fighting for his political life as many Republicans have said he is not conservative enough for appointing a handful of Democrats as committee chairs. Gov. Greg Abbott has also targeted him for voting against vouchers and Paxton for voting to impeach him.

“Dade’s plan, and the plan of his Democratic cohorts in the Texas House and the plan of the Biden administration, failed dramatically,” Paxton said at the convention. “Now, almost exactly a year later, I am still the Texas attorney general, and Dade Phelan is about to lose not only the speakership, but also his House seat.”

Patrick was part of a Republican contingent attending Trump’s hush-money trial in New York this week. He equated Trump’s criminal trial with the indictment of Attorney General Ken Paxton, declaring both to be baseless. “There was no crime, there was no evidence,” he said repeatedly to describe both cases.

Patrick has maintained a close relationship with Trump since serving as his campaign surrogate in Texas during the 2016 presidential race. Trump has reciprocated by endorsing many of Patrick’s favored candidates in down-ballot races.

Patrick also accompanied Trump on Wednesday during campaign fundraising events in Dallas and Houston. “The guy never stops,” Patrick observed. “He’s like a superstar in a major movie. No matter what they do, he just keeps coming.”

Despite the blast at Phelan, in a moment when the party is more divided than ever, he urged delegates to unite after the primary session, which ends with Tuesday’s runoffs.

“Come together as one united Republican Party in Texas,” Patrick said.