Katrina Pierson arrives at Trump Tower on December 14, 2016, in New York City. | Source: Drew Angerer / Getty
The former national spokesperson for Donald Trump who has routinely reinforced his lies and defended his racist behavior is running for public office in Texas nearly a decade after she was trounced as an upstart political candidate in a failed congressional campaign.
Katrina Pierson, 47, on Monday announced plans to challenge an incumbent Democrat to represent House District 33 in the Texas Legislature.
“The Texas House has been a bottleneck for conservative priorities for too long, and it must be reformed,” Pierson said in a statement. “A small group of liberal Republicans have formed a coalition with Democrats to block or water down conservative priorities. They voted to put radical Democrats in charge of key committees so they could kill conservative bills and even helped put a radical Obama Administration lawyer in charge of House proceedings.”
Pierson, a former leader in the controversial Tea Party movement, is campaigning on classically conservative issues like securing the border, defending gun rights and opposing abortion, according to the candidate’s official website.
Pierson did not mention Trump once in her statement despite her irreversible link to the former president facing four indictments related to accusations he attempted to overturn the 2020 election and incite insurrection – the latter for which she was subpoenaed by the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Instead, Pierson – who previously condemned what she described as the “partisan-driven and wholly corrupt Congress of the United States” – used her statement to *checks notes* focus on partisan politics.
“Republicans are tired of politicians who care more about representing the Austin special interests than hard-working taxpayers. I’II stand up for conservative principles and fight for lower taxes, stronger border security, and boldly oppose the radical left’s woke agenda,” Pierson added. “Republicans in Rockwall and Collin County have told me they want a conservative voice in Austin, and I’m honored by the support and encouragement I have received from them to enter the race.”
Pierson’s anti-Black rhetoric
Pierson has a documented record of anti-Black rhetoric, something that may actually bode well for her candidacy in a district that is nearly 62% white and in a state with a Republican-led legislature that recently advanced a bill that critics decried as a “stop and frisk” law targeting undocumented immigrants.
Her shady past before politics notwithstanding, Pierson has blamed former President Barack Obama for starting the war in Afghanistan even though he was a state senator when that conflict began. Pierson also disrespected Obama by referring to him as the “head Negro in charge.”
Not to be outdone, Pierson has defended Confederate monuments and – in a moment that might make Nikki Haley blush – referred to slavery as “good history.”
Pierson has also been identified in 2018 by Omarosa Manigault Newman as one of two Trump campaign aides secretly recorded strategizing on how to cover up, prevent or manage any possible fallout from Trump using the N-word when he hosted NBC’s “The Apprentice.”
One year later, Pierson nonsensically suggested Trump isn’t racist because he had more Black people working in the White House than former President Abraham Lincoln, who was in office during slavery.
Beyond that, Pierson has also suggested that Kamala Harris, prior to becoming the first Black vice president of the United States, was not Black enough to run as a minority presidential candidate, tweeting at the time that “while Obama is actually African-American — Harris is not.”
So then, you may ask, what makes Pierson qualified to be elected to the Texas state legislature?
Perhaps she will shed some light on that very question on Thursday night during a campaign kickoff event for women supporting her candidacy.
Until then, all we have to go on is her association with Trump.
Pierson the politician
Pierson’s primary election is scheduled to be held March 5, about a decade after she boasted endorsements from the likes of Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for her “long-shot” bid for Congress in which she was routed by incumbent U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions in the Republican primary.
This time around, Pierson is attempting to unseat Texas State Rep. Jim Holland, also a Republican.
This is America.
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