In the article’s imagined October 2024 scene, Republican Eric Flores is running for office in Brownsville, Texas, and trying to unseat a Democrat. A billboard showing Flores giving a thumbs up beside President Donald Trump might have looked like a campaign gift rather than a problem.

The display declares Flores “TRUMP ENDORSED” and urges voters to “Support ICE!” For a Republican proud of Trump and eager to advertise that alliance, the picture and message would seemingly provide plenty to celebrate.

Now move that same scene to October 2026, when Flores is the Republican candidate trying to unseat Democratic incumbent Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr. Suddenly, the Trump billboard has become such a problem that Flores is threatening legal action to make it disappear.

Flores objected after Democrats displayed the image of him smiling and giving a thumbs up with Trump. His lawyer sent a letter to the billboard company demanding that it remove the advertisement and claiming that the display was intended to confuse voters.

“The Billboard intentionally mimics the distinctive look of our client’s campaign signs and other materials to cause voter confusion,” the letter said. Yet the billboard contains the required disclaimer identifying Gonzalez as the person who paid for it.

That leaves an awkward question for Flores: What exactly could voters misunderstand? The central message about Trump’s endorsement is not something Gonzalez invented.

Trump wrote about Flores in December and said the Republican had his “complete and total endorsement.” Trump also posted endorsement videos for Flores twice, making the relationship rather difficult to scrub from public view now that it has apparently become inconvenient.

Nor did Flores previously behave like a candidate distressed by Trump’s attention. He went to Whataburger with Trump, where the two appeared together smiling, and Trump’s repeated support helped Flores win the Republican primary.

Flores has since removed Trump’s endorsement from his campaign sign. Democrats responded with campaign signs promoting the endorsement that Flores once welcomed, prompting the Republican candidate to complain about what he called “dirty tricks.”

Apparently, reminding voters that a Republican was endorsed by the head of his own party now qualifies as campaign mischief. Flores was willing to accept Trump’s help, appear with him, and benefit during the primary, but the public reminder has inspired a lawyer’s letter.

The sudden squeamishness fits a broader pattern described in the article. Republicans competing in difficult districts have reason to obscure their connections to Trump if they want even a remote chance of winning.

Even Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is currently dodging Trump, according to the article. Republican incumbents in deep red seats are also beginning to suggest that immigration enforcement may have “gone too far” after all.

A collection of Republicans skipped Trump’s unusual midterm convention as well. The article jokes that they stayed home to wash their hair or whatever, but the absences add to the portrait of a party increasingly uncomfortable with its leader.

Trump, meanwhile, continues shouting that he is “on the ballot” as Republican candidates confront the electoral consequences of that association. The article argues that his policies are hated outside the most committed MAGA faction and that even deeply conservative politicians recognize the danger.

That brings the story back to Flores and his effort to make the billboard vanish. A legal threat may pressure the billboard company, but it cannot erase Trump’s written endorsement, two endorsement videos, or the smiling Whataburger appearance.

Flores can label the advertisement confusing and accuse Democrats of dirty campaigning, but its central claim remains rooted in Trump’s own public support. After embracing the endorsement during the primary, Flores is now desperately trying to wash away a Trump connection that Democrats are determined to keep visible.