U.S. President Donald Trump looks on while speaking to members of the media as he flies from Florida to Joint Base Andrews en route to Washington, aboard Air Force One, U.S., October 19, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Although Texas is a red state — Donald Trump carried the Lone Star State by roughly 14 percent in the 2024 election — its large urban centers lean Democrat, including Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and El Paso. Organizers for the anti-Trump No Kings Day protests of Saturday, October 18 were pleased by the large turnout in Texas' largest cities, but according to Austin-based journalist Ana Marie Cox, the larger-than-expected turnout at a No Kings event in New Braunfels, Texas was a pleasant surprise for organizers — as that area is more Republican.
During an appearance on The New Republic's "The Daily Blast" podcast posted on October 21, Cox and host Greg Sargent stressed that the New Braunfels turnout was a major humiliation for Trump given how red the area is. Sargent noted that the congressman is that area is ultra-conservative GOP Rep. Chip Roy.
Cox told Sargent, "Yes, I was in New Braunfels, Texas, which is about halfway between here and San Antonio. I'm in Austin. And although the whole I-35 corridor has gotten pretty suburban and blue, this is a red district. It's represented by Chip Roy, as you said. And having gone to a bunch of protests in Austin over the years, what struck me about this protest is that it was older and whiter, and as I said in my piece, the aesthetics of it could have been transplanted onto a Tea Party rally. These are very self-consciously pro-America folks. I would consider them 'normies,' to use an internet phrase."
Cox noted that while demonstrations in Austin typically "bring out a lot of college students" and attract "left-of-Democrat points of view," the No Kings crowd in New Braunfels was way more conservative and resembled people attending a "church picnic."
"So this woman I was talking to, in a lawn chair, had a sign that said, 'I love: God, country, church, family, friends, my dog, Texas, and democracy," Cox told Sargent. "And then she had a bunch of Bible verses — too many, in a way — Bible verses on the other side. She was not someone who would have shown up — I didn't ask her — but I don't think she's someone who would have shown up for the Women's March. These are people who've been activated — I'm not going to say radicalized, I mean, maybe that's coming — but activated by what's happening in Washington."
Cox continued, "They're not, they're not, you know, (Georgia) Soros protesters. They probably don't know who George Soros is."
Listen to the full podcast at this link or read the transcript here.