Ahead of President Donald Trump’s Wednesday visit to San Antonio, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, Texas House Rep. Josey Garcia and a coalition of veterans stood on the steps of City Hall to demand an end to the “endless war” in Iran.
During the conference, the Democratic lawmakers and other speakers also called out Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who will join Trump onstage at Freeman Coliseum this afternoon for a rally. In leaked audio reported on by Axios, Paxton complained the Iran war and rising gas prices were hurting his race for the U.S. Senate.
“It’s the war, it’s gas prices … . It’s over $6 a gallon for diesel,” Paxton reportedly said at a private meeting with donors when asked what issues were “dragging” on him and his campaign. “People are feeling that pinch. So I’d say that’s probably the biggest problem … food prices, everything else … . That’s by far our biggest problem, and I think that’s why we’re having a hard time with numbers.”
Democrats and veterans gathered at the Wednesday morning press conference noted that Paxton was more concerned about himself than service members overseas — or his own constituents back home.
“He didn’t say that he asked Donald Trump to stop the war,” said Castro, whose district includes San Antonio. “He didn’t say he asked Donald Trump to stop putting our service members in harm’s way for their own good and for the sake of the nation.”
Speakers touched on a variety of issues affecting veterans, including the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is set to return home after 321 days at sea as concerns have mounted for the sailors over reports of deteriorating mental health and self harm.
But service members aren’t the only ones affected by Trump’s war in Iran, Castro pointed out.
“[Paxton] didn’t empathize with San Antonians or Austinites or Houstonians or people in rural areas throughout our state who are paying higher gas prices every day,” Castro said. “He thought only of himself and what it meant for his political future.”
In Paxton’s most recent private comments disparaging Trump over his poor polling in Texas, the Texas AG said he wished the Iran war had happened after the midterms.
“We cannot afford Ken Paxton’s cowardice,” Castro added.
Garcia, who represents part of San Antonio and is an Iraq veteran, joined Castro in endorsing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico for U.S. Senate and called on Democrats to show up at the polls to end Trump’s “endless war” in Iran.
“We need boots on the ground, all soldiers mobilized,” Garcia said, enlisting Democratic voters into the war to flip the U.S. House and Senate.
Following Garcia, veterans took turns at the podium echoing the call to support Talarico and end the war in Iran.
Several called attention to mental health and suicide as issues plaguing veterans. The VA’s 2026 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report recorded 6,488 suicides among veterans in 2024 — or an average of 17.7 veteran suicides per day.
“We need a Texas senator who will stand up for our service members and our veterans,” said Fred Hofstetter, an Army veteran. “We need a Texas senator with character and morals. Ken Paxton has neither.”
Democratic activist Martha Spinks, retired Army lieutenant colonel, pointed to the Trump administration’s double-tap strike on a school in Minab as a prime example of Trump’s “cascade of preventable failure” in Iran.
Spinks blamed gaps in information, a shortened timeline and an “over-reliance on AI technology” for the February attack, which killed 120 children and 35 adults.
“This is our future. This is who we are, unless we demand that Congress act,” Spinks said.
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