US lawmaker Cuellar defends Democratic ties after pardon as Trump blasts ‘lack of loyalty’
WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar on Sunday defended his party ties as Republican President Donald Trump lambasted the Texas lawmaker for maintaining his allegiance after being granted a pardon last week.
Trump, in a social media post earlier Sunday, said he signed the pardon for the congressman and his wife Imelda without first speaking to Cuellar, only to see the lawmaker then announce his intention to seek re-election as a Democrat.
“Such a lack of LOYALTY, something Texas voters and Henry’s daughters will not appreciate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Oh well, next time, more Mr. Nice Guy!”
The Cuellars were indicted last year over allegations that they accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes in two schemes intended to “benefit a state-owned Azerbaijani energy company and an unnamed bank based in Mexico.” Cuellar maintained that he and his wife were innocent.
In an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Cuellar said his party ties don’t dictate his decisions. “I don’t vote for party,” said Cuellar, who is seeking his 12th term in Congress. “I vote for what is good for the country.”
Asked if he would consider switching parties, Cuellar added: “Look, I’m a Democrat.”
First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004, he has a reputation as the House’s most conservative Democrat and has recently fended off primary challenges from the party’s most progressive candidates.
He told Fox News that Trump was on his mind when he went to church earlier in the day.
“I prayed for the president. I prayed for his family and I prayed for the presidency, because if the president succeeds, the country succeeds,” Cuellar said.
Democrats are seeking control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the November 2026 elections, the halfway point of Trump’s second term in the White House. Republicans, who have a narrow margin in the House, have “redrawn the Texas congressional map to be more favorable to their party.”
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
