On Wednesday, one of the Trump donors whose name was exposed by Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro had a surprise for the Texas legislator: he has donated to Castro before but he’s through with him now.
Wayne Harwell told Fox News, “I was also on a list of people that gave to Castro and if he dislikes me enough that he wants to put my name out there against Trump, I’m not going to give money to him. Obviously Castro feels pretty strongly against me.” He added, “I’m pretty independent, but I support Trump.”
Federal Election Commission records show Harwell donated $1,000 to Castro’s campaign in September 2011. He donated $5,600 to the Trump Victory committee and $2,800 to the Trump campaign in 2019; he donated to Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Castro, the campaign chairman for the presidential campaign of his brother Julian, exposed the names of 44 Trump donors in a tweet. He wrote, “Sad to see so many San Antonians as 2019 maximum donors to Donald Trump. Their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders.’”
Harwell reacted to the tweet, snapping, “I think some of the Democratic rhetoric is more hateful than some of Trump’s rhetoric. I think the San Antonio community needs to take a real deep look at what Castro is doing. Why is he doing this? If he wants to play in Washington, he needs to move to Washington. If he wants to play in San Antonio, he needs to at least be sensitive. The rest of the community is sensitive. We’re sensitive to both Republican and Democrat views. A lot of us here in San Antonio are independents.” He concluded, “I hope his constituents remember this.”
Another victim of Castro’s, Justin Herricks, told Fox News, “As a country, as a whole, we’ve got much bigger issues than trying to fight amongst ourselves. I feel pretty good about what I’ve done, and who I support. Everybody else is pretty open with what they believe in on the other side, so why can’t I? What’s the problem?”
Herricks also disputed Castro’s claim about Trump donors and Hispanics, asserting, “Probably a good 50 to 70 percent of my employment is Mexican people. You can’t have that argument. Everyone on that list, I would be safe to say, has done way more for Hispanic people than Castro ever has thought of doing. I don’t know the guy, but how many employees does he have compared to all of the people on the list?”
As The Daily Wire reported, after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) criticized him for posting the tweet exposing Trump donors, Castro doubled down, saying, “No one was targeted or harassed in my post. You know that. All that info is routinely published. You’re trying to distract from the racism that has overtaken the GOP and the fact that President Trump spends donor money on thousands of ads about Hispanics ‘invading’ America.” He added, “Donald Trump has put a target on the back of millions. And you’re too cowardly or agreeable to say anything about it. How about I stop mentioning Trump’s public campaign donors and he stops using their money for ads that fuel hate?”
But House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), who was shot and critically wounded in an attack at a congressional baseball game, slammed Castro for his actions, tweeting, “People should not be personally targeted for their political views. Period. This isn’t a game. It’s dangerous, and lives are at stake. I know this firsthand.”