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Governor Turns to Oscar Winning Dem
Donor DiCaprio for New Year's Salute
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January 4, 2026
Governor Greg Abbott's campaign rang in the new year on Thursday with a social media post that could be a foreshadowing if the polls and all the other trends are right about a disastrous midterm election shaping up for the GOP next fall. The Texans for Abbott ushered in 2026 with a message on X that featured a video clip of diehard Democrat Leonardo DiCaprio raising a champagne glass for a toast to the new year.
"Happy New Year, Texas!" Abbott's camp exclaimed in the holiday greeting on his behalf with the moving image of the Oscar-winning actor who's been a major contributor to Democrats at the national level and Democratic party organizations in almost if not all 50 states.
Abbott came out swinging in the first few days of January on his individual page on X. The Republican who leads the nation's largest state took shots at new LSU coach Lane Kiffin, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an endorsement of the U.S. strike in the oil-rich South African country on Saturday. But @AbbottCampaign turned to the Oscar-winning actor to help it get the new year under way when Abbott was busy as a self-appointed college football analyst instead on the page @GregAbbott_TX on day one of 2026.
The use of the DICaprio's image - with or without permission from its lawful owners - is a curious move for a major Republican leader like the Texas governor at the outset of an election year that has the potential to be the worst for the GOP in decades. Abbott knows - or should know - that DiCaprio will be ready to pop the cork if Democrats take the U.S. House back in 2026 and flip as many legislative seats across the country as they did last year in the opening slate of midterm elections in President Donald Trump's second term. It's a safe bet that DiCaprio wouldn't vote for the current Texas governor for any office at any level if he moved to the Lone Star State at some point before November.
Abbott and his high-paid advisers might find it interesting to learn that DiCaprio contributed well north of $300,000 to Democrats at the federal level alone in 2024. DiCaprio gave presidential nominee Kamala Harris more than $200,000 in donations that are recorded on the Federal Election Commission web site. The famous actor donated to just about every state Democratic Party organizations in the United States last year. DiCaprio gave the Texas Democratic Party $980.38 in September of 2024 and 890.19 the following month just weeks before the 2024 vote.
So why would the Abbott campaign choose to make the big-giving Democrat from Hollywood the face of its social media page on the first day of 2026? Surely it wasn't a ploy designed to trick DiCaprio fans into thinking that he's an Abbott admirer. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Texas governor's camp may or may not be aware that DiCaprio arranged a meeting with Trump after his election in 2024 to press the incoming president on the need to address the dangers that climate change poses to modern civilization, the human race and the planet Earth as a whole. DiCaprio felt the arguments he made to Trump went ignored.
“We presented him with a comprehensive plan to tackle climate change, while also simultaneously harnessing the economic potential of green jobs,” DiCaprio said in a speech at Yale last spring. “We talked about how the United States has the potential to lead the world in clean-energy manufacturing and research and development.
“We should not have people in office who do not believe in facts and truths and modern science that are able to manipulate and risk the entire future of this entire generation," the actor added. "We are at that turning point right now, and we are going to look back at this point in history, and frankly this administration, and certain people are going to be vilified for not taking action. They really are. And it’s up to this generation, it’s up to all of you to get involved and make a difference.”
The Abbott campaign's enlistment of DiCaprio as a messenger - regardless of potential copyright violations - comes at a time when the movie star appears poised to win his second Academy Award for best actor in a leading role for his unforgettable turn as a burned-out revolutionary in the film One Battle after Another.
DiCaprio, who's been nominated for best actor five times and once for a supporting role, is a member of a group that's the spitting image of Antifa but dubbed the French 75 in the movie that's the betting favorite to claim Oscars for for best picture, director, supporting actor, supporting actress, screenplay and more.
The Abbott camp's use of DiCaprio for New Years Day art on social media makes even less sense when considering the pool of actors who are Trump buddies. Dennis Quaid has posed for photos with Abbott at the Governor's Mansion in the past few years. MAGA film buffs will be disappointed to learn that Quaid, a Houston product, has not received any Oscar buzz for his role in the film that was released last year called Reagan.
Abbott could have put up a picture of the veteran actor James Woods on X for the sake of preventing confusion and deception among the GOP base. But the timing for that wouldn't be that great just weeks after Woods came to Rob Reiner's defense after the president mocked him immediately after he and his wife were murdered last month.
The Texas governor's campaign could have slapped a picture or video with Scott Baio on the X page in the spot where DiCaprio appeared. Baio, who played Joanie's boyfriend on Happy Days - was Trump's choice for token entertainment celebrity speaker at his nominating convention in 2016. But if you're going to get the biggest movie star in contemporary Hollywood, DiCaprio is the choice.
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