Texas Democrats welcomed President Donald Trump to his Dallas convention by recommending the city's "world-class memory care clinic" that specializes in dementia.
Kendall Scudder, the chair of the Texas Democratic Party, delivered the line at a news conference in Dallas on Wednesday morning.
Democrats scheduled the event hours before Republicans opened their first midterm convention at the American Airlines Center, and Scudder said the party had come to offer "the other side of the story" that reporters would not hear this week.
Republicans chose Dallas in part to lift Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the party's nominee for U.S. Senate, who is running roughly level with state Rep. James Talarico, an Austin Democrat, according to The Independent.
"Ken Paxton has the magnetic pull of a plastic spoon, and they have to do everything that they can to prop him up before they lose their stranglehold on Texas," Scudder said.
"First, Dallas has a world-class memory care clinic specializing in dementia, so it gives easier access and opportunities for a president who clearly has ailing health," Scudder remarked, offering what he described as another reason for the choice of city.
"Lastly, the president shares a lot of similarities to our mayor, Eric Johnson," Scudder said of the Dallas mayor. "They both have great disrespect for their own wives and bulldoze public buildings that don't belong to them against the wishes of the public."
Scudder also invoked the late Texas Sen. Ralph Yarborough, who campaigned on a promise to put the jam on the bottom shelf so ordinary people could reach it, and said Republicans had taken the opposite approach.
"Give everything we can to big businesses, billionaires and bootlicking b------- so they can buy their fealty to Donald Trump on your dime," Scudder said.
Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), who traveled to Dallas for the news conference, was asked by a reporter whether Democrats' warnings about the coming election were undermining public confidence in the vote.
"Look, I think the more that people understand that everything is at stake in this election, the more likely it is that people will show up and vote," Pritzker said. "So we're not undermining anything."
"You call it whatever you wanna call it, but what is it when the president of the United States says that he is going to determine which mail-in ballots they accept within our state, while at the same time our secretary of state is unable to provide you with a voting roster?" Scudder said.
"So if you wanna call it rigging, call it that," Scudder added. "I don't know what else you would call it, but it is frankly un-American, and it is not the way this system is supposed to work."
Trump's approval rating stood at 33% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Aug. 28-31, the lowest reading of his presidency in that survey, The Independent reported.
Several Republicans in competitive races are staying away from the convention, including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Tom Barrett (R-MI), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Zach Nunn (R-IA) and David Valadao (R-CA), CNN reported.
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI), the party's nominee for Wisconsin governor, is also skipping the event, and Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) and former New Hampshire Sen. John E. Sununu are not on the speaking list, according to CNN.
One Republican source told the network that a request from the National Republican Congressional Committee for House members to pay at least $25,000 for a ticket contributed to some members' decision to stay home.
"I can't control what the president's going to say at the convention, but I can control where I'm at," Barrett told Politico.
The Republican National Committee has run a public lottery offering free tickets, and a text message sent to donors as recently as last week encouraged them to ask for "FREE TICKETS," while some party operatives said seats remained available, according to The Independent.
The committee has said it expects about 20,000 people at the arena, the outlet reported.
Donors willing to pay were offered a seat at a roundtable with Trump for $250,000 and a commemorative photograph for another $88,600, the outlet reported. A $20,000 contribution bought "honorary delegate" status along with a Texas shirt and a cowboy hat.
The two-day program lists 109 speakers and events. Trump is scheduled to appear on stage both evenings and will close the convention Thursday in the 8 p.m. hour, with Vice President JD Vance delivering Wednesday's keynote, the publication reported.