Some Republican leaders and advocates are calling for a boycott, while others are attending the Texas Tribune’s much-hyped political festival, TribFest, scheduled for September 5-7 in downtown Austin.
According to the event’s website, TribFest is “a multi-day celebration of big, bold ideas about politics, public policy and the day’s news.”
This year’s event will feature speakers from both sides of the aisle, from former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to GOP State Reps. Brian Harrison, Shelby Slawson, Ryan Guillen, Ken King and Jeff Leach.
“Today we announce the full program for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival, with more than 100 must-see conversations featuring the most influential voices in politics, policy, the media, technology and beyond,” the news outlet posted on its website.
Some Republicans have called for a boycott of the festival due to the Tribune’s alleged leftwing bias.
“The Texas Tribune is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Democrats and the Austin swamp. All they do is attack conservatives. It baffles me when Republicans give them credibility by showing up to their events,” Tarrant County Republican Chairman Bo French told The Dallas Express.
Former Texas Republican Chairman Matt Rinaldi re-shared an X post from 2022 in which he called for a boycott of the festival.
“GOP officeholders: Stop raising money for this trash publication by attending TribFest and other forums. Make them irrelevant,” Rinaldi posted on X.
“The Texas Tribune likes to say that it is a bipartisan organization; but, based on their released line-up of Speakers for the 2024 TribFest next September, it’s obvious that their ideology STILL leans disproportionately to the Left. If you look at the speaker biographies, the Texas Tribune seems to have sought out and invited the farthest of the far-Left ideologues from government, academia and the media, plus a few of the most moderate Republican voices to supposedly ‘balance’ them,” posted Dallas County Republicans member Bob Green on Facebook.
However, some Republicans have expressed support for the event and announced plans to attend.
Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez said that he plans to confront the ideology of progressive Democrats as a speaker for the event.
“I look forward to joining conservative Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, State Senator Phil King, U.S. Representatives [Michael] Burgess and [Michael] McCaul, and dozens of other steadfast conservatives in speaking at The Texas Tribune Fest to confront radical ideologies that damage our communities,” Ramirez told DX.
“I am proud to carry forward our message of how fiscally and socially conservative principles produce results and why the Republican party is the party of common sense. I served our state as a police officer for more than 15 years; I will never back down from a fight,” Ramirez added.
Scheduled Texas-based Republican speakers who did not respond to a DX request for comment include notables such as Congressmen Dan Crenshaw, Michael McCaul, and Tony Gonzalez; State Reps. James Frank, Ryan Guillen, Brian Harrison; State Comptroller Glenn Hegar; State Senator Phil King; State Rep.-elects Shelley Luther and Mitch Little.