Trump attacks Figures as polls show competitive race under GOP-favored map

President Donald Trump attacked U.S. Representative Shomari Figures on Monday, renewing his endorsement of Republican Rhett Marques eight days before voters decide a competitive race in a district redrawn to favor Republicans.

Figures fired back Tuesday, accusing the president of lying and challenging him to debate in Marques’ place.

Private polling commissioned by business interests and shared with APR shows Figures leading Marques. A publicly released Democratic-sponsored survey found the candidates tied at 47 percent.

That public poll, conducted by Tulchin Research for House Majority PAC from August 24 through August 31 and released September 9, predates the campaign’s closing weeks.

In his Truth Social post Monday, Trump praised Marques’ legislative and business background and said he would advance the president’s priorities on taxes, agriculture, energy and immigration. Trump first endorsed Marques in June, ahead of the Republican special primary.

Trump then accused Figures of opposing tax relief on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits and attacked his positions on immigration and transgender issues.

“Shomari Figures is Reckless, Radical, and Dangerous!” Trump wrote.

The message was among several congressional endorsements Trump posted within minutes that used substantially similar language to attack Democratic candidates.

Figures answered on Facebook.

“Dang, Donald! Yall must really be nervous!” he wrote. “I appreciate the shout out! It’s motivating a lot of voters down here calling my name out like that with all those lies!”

“We’ll show you better than we can tell you though,” he added.

Figures also mocked Trump with a reference to the Jeffrey Epstein files and renewed his challenge over Marques’ refusal to debate.

The exchange is unfolding in a district whose boundaries have been at the center of Alabama’s fight over Black voting strength.

Figures won the seat in 2024 under a court-ordered remedial map, adopted after federal judges rejected the Legislature’s 2023 plan for diluting Black voting strength. The remedial map provided a second district in which Black voters had an opportunity to elect their preferred candidate.

In a May 2025 ruling, the federal court again found the Legislature’s plan unlawful.

This year, the Supreme Court changed course. Its June 2 order stayed a lower court injunction, clearing the way for Alabama to use the previously rejected map.

The change lowered the district’s Black voting-age population from 48.7 percent to 39.9 percent, according to federal court records, and made Figures’ reelection more difficult.

Marques supported the change and advocated going further. In June, he called for a congressional map designed to elect Republicans to all seven of Alabama’s seats.

Trump’s tax claims rest on a single vote.

Figures voted against H.R. 1 on July 3, 2025, opposing Trump’s sweeping tax-and-spending package, which included deductions for tips and qualified overtime compensation. His vote was against the entire package, not a stand-alone bill addressing overtime or tips.

The federal overtime deduction generally covers the premium portion required under federal overtime law—the extra half of time-and-a-half pay—subject to limits. It does not exempt all overtime earnings from taxation.

The law also did not repeal federal income taxes on Social Security benefits. It created a temporary deduction of up to $6,000 per eligible taxpayer age 65 or older, subject to income limits, for 2025 through 2028. The rules determining how much of a recipient’s benefits are taxable remained unchanged, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Alabama’s own overtime tax exemption originated with House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, in 2023. It passed with bipartisan support and took effect January 1, 2024, before Trump announced his federal proposal in September 2024.

Republican legislative leaders allowed the state exemption to expire June 30, 2025. Daniels’ extension bill drew bipartisan support but never received a vote. GOP budget leaders said they prioritized broader tax reductions, including a grocery tax cut.

The candidates face voters November 3, with their disagreement over debates still unresolved.

Earlier this month, Figures accepted debate invitations from AL.com, the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce and the Christian Coalition for Alabama. Marques told APR he would not participate, arguing that a debate would give Figures a platform to help Democrats take control of Congress.

Figures ended his Facebook response by inviting Trump to take Marques’ place.

“P.S. Since Rhett is scared to debate, maybe you should come do it for him.”