Opinion Column By Dr. Glenn Rogers
Primary season is the time to ask where we draw the line.
Recently, driving to my childhood home of Graham, my eyes darted toward a ginormous Trump flag, high on the tallest flagpole in the area, flapping in the northern breeze. I found the sight unsettling, not because it conveyed support for Trump; we see pro-Trump signs commonly in the rural areas around Possum Kingdom Lake. It was the sheer height, the singularity, and the prominence above all else that sent a chill up my spine. I think it illustrated how we have digressed as a nation, at least some in my political party.
This placement of such a pronounced flag display is usually left for an American flag, a Texas flag or even one of our great Texas universities. But a highly elevated flag with the name of one man? It got me thinking.
President Donald Trump has always been crass. But his recent, worsening behavior — from slandering the recently murdered Rob Reiner, to whining about not winning the Nobel Peace Prize, to threatening an attack on a NATO ally — gives me pause to wonder: Where do I personally draw the line? How far does Trump have to go to lose my support? And where do current Republican leaders, with the capacity to rein in the impact of Trump’s dangerous and excessive behavior, draw the line?
At an Iowa campaign stop 10 years ago, Trump remarked, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters. It’s, like, incredible.”
At the time, this quip was quickly dismissed by Trump supporters, including myself, as just harmless bravado and “Trump being Trump.” But 10 years later, with increasingly hateful speech and dictatorial behavior, maybe the specific question about loyalty boundaries needs to be asked of every Republican.
In April 2025, Trump phoned in and persuaded a reluctant group of Texas House members to vote for a school voucher-like program, even against the consciences of many of them and the wishes of their districts. Both Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott received millions in campaign contributions from megadonor voucher supporters.
Each Texas House Republican seeking re-election who opposed vouchers caved in to Trump’s primary threats. In exchange, the president awarded those legislators a campaign endorsement. Unfortunately, transactional politics are part and parcel of the imperfect world of government. But where are the boundaries to presidential bullying?
A Trump endorsement has been the highest prize in Republican primaries for the last decade. Running against a Trump-endorsed candidate has been a political death sentence.
As we continue the heated primary election season, I would suggest every forum and communication highlighting differences between Republican primary candidates contain questions about the level of those candidates’ allegiance to Trump versus the needs of their electorate.
As concerned American citizens and Republican voters, we need confirmation from every candidate that they have considered where their line in the sand is drawn. Before voting, the public needs to know what boundaries each politician has established that might even jeopardize the precious Trump endorsement.
As a voter, I want to know how candidates would answer questions like these: Do you support Trump’s blanket pardon of those participating in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack, even those who assaulted police officers? Would you support a U.S. military takeover of Greenland, even at the risk of losing lives of Americans and our NATO allies? Would you support legal reforms to allow Trump to serve a third term?
For any candidate answering yes to all three, perhaps the final question should be, “If President Trump shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, would you still support him?”
Now, in the dog days of this primary season, is the time to put these kinds of questions to candidates. Over the last several decades, in many Texas districts, elections have been decided in the March primary. Due to Republican dominance, the November general election is too late for most districts in Texas to research candidate differences and register an informed vote.
The dramatic rise in threats to our constitutional rights, promoted by the Trump administration, requires our immediate attention. As conservative citizens, are we aligned with unprecedented expansions of executive power, efforts to undermine democratic checks and balances and the targeting of political opponents? Has there been a misuse of the Insurrection Act? Has the Justice Department been weaponized? At what point do we stand up for the Constitution?
The blind allegiance, and even deification, of one man in public office has never been more pronounced in the history of our constitutional republic.
As we enter the last few weeks of this critical primary season, ask your candidates tough questions about their allegiance to Trump versus their level of support for actual policy issues like critical water shortages, roads, health care and education. Research their record of real accomplishments both in private life and public service. Hear their plans for your local district, think critically and, please, vote!