A GOP congressional candidate in Texas said an anti-Trump post on his Facebook was a prank by his son to mock his support for Trump

• A pro-Trump candidate in Texas said an old anti-Trump post on his Facebook was actually a prank.
• Ed Cabrera’s campaign told The Texas Tribune it was actually posted by his son.
• Cabrera is one of several Republicans vying to challenge Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar.

A businessman and rancher running as a Republican for US Congress in Texas said an anti-Trump post shared on his Facebook page in 2016 could be chalked up to a prank by his son.

Ed Cabrera, who is campaigning on finishing the “Trump Border Wall,” is running to represent the state’s 28th Congressional District in the House of Representatives. Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar currently occupies the seat.

According to The Texas Tribune, a 2016 post on Cabrera’s Facebook page disparaged the former president.

“Better to be a Mexican than to be a citizen of a country that elects Trump as President. Don’t pay for the wall, arriba Mejico!” the post read, according to the outlet. The caption was shared alongside a photo of Cabrera outside the Mexican consulate building in New York. 

The Tribune reported that the post appeared to have only been deleted in 2021 after Cabrera announced his campaign.

Cabrera’s campaign said the post was actually written by Cabrera’s son, playing a practical joke on his dad.

“The social media post was a practical joke by Mr. Cabrera’s son to mock Mr. Cabrera’s strong support of President Trump,” the campaign told the Tribune. “It was posted when Mr. Cabrera gave his son his phone to take a picture.”

Cabrera’s campaign website said he would advocate for a secure border and to “finish building the Trump Border Wall in high traffic areas to stem the inflow of illegals since it is a powerful enforcement tool.”

Cabrera is primarying against a handful of other Republicans seeking to challenge Cuellar, who has represented southern Texas in Congress since 2005. Cuellar is also facing a primary challenge from progressive candidate Jessica Cisneros, a public defender who also ran against him in 2020.

On Wednesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a search at Cuellar’s residence in Laredo, Texas, but the reason for the raid was unclear.