Texas GOP to rally at George Lopez show ‘in support of our President’ over bounty joke
A Texas county’s Republican Party is planning to rally outside a George Lopez event in Beaumont this week after the comedian made an incendiary joke about the president.
The planned action comes after Lopez responded to an Instagram post that suggested Iran was offering an $80 million bounty for Donald Trump’s head in retaliation for the U.S. killing of one of the Iran’s top military leaders, Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
“We’ll do it for half,” Lopez wrote in a comment from his verified Instagram account.
Lopez’s rejoinder — which has thousands of likes and hundreds of comments of its own — was condemned by some online.
A representative for Lopez said the comedian’s post on the unverified bounty claim was just a joke, Fox News reported. NBC described the bounty claim in the original post as “erroneous.”
But the Jefferson County Republican Party isn’t laughing — and is now hosting a rally across from Lopez’s Friday night Beaumont show, according to a Facebook event organized by the group. Lopez is slated to perform live at the Julie Rogers Theatre at 8 p.m. as part of his “The Wall Tour.”
Organizers wrote that their gathering will be “in support of our President under the awning at the Beaumont Civic Center Friday evening, Jan 10th from 6-8 p.m.”
“We will have Trump yard signs, hats, shirts and flags available for a small donation,” organizers said. “We encourage all like-minded neighbors to join us in lifting up our President in these trying times.”
KFDM reported that the Jefferson County GOP passed a resolution at its Tuesday meeting condemning Lopez’s comments, and saying that “Lopez’s cold-blooded humor only encourages radicals to entertain the thought of murdering our elected President.”
The party also touted Trump’s record.
“As a Latino, Mr. Lopez should note that because of Republican President Trump’s tax cuts, Hispanic unemployment is at its lowest point ever recorded,” a statement released by the party said, according to KFDM. “With a booming economy, many can now afford to pay the $100.00 a person ticket prices Mr. Lopez charges.”
Texas Republicans aren’t the only ones who caught wind of the controversial comment: The Secret Service, charged with protecting the president, said in a statement Tuesday that it was aware of the post and “takes all threats against the president and or any of our protectees seriously, and as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Texas GOP to rally at George Lopez show ‘in support of our President’ over bounty joke."
