“No governor has done more to secure the border and keep our communities safe than Governor Abbott,” Trump said in a release.
The statement touted Texas’ newly-passed legislation to punish cities that “defund” their police departments and designating Texas a sanctuary state for the Second Amendment, as well as Texas’ continued job-creating success.
It also plugged Abbott’s support for bail reform policies and election integrity legislation — neither of which passed the legislature but are likely to be on the agenda for a prospective special session.
Trump concluded, “Governor Greg Abbott will continue to be a great leader for the Lone Star State, and has my complete and total endorsement for re-election.”
In thanking Trump, Abbott stated, “I am proud of the work we have done together to secure our border, bring more jobs to Texas, and protect the freedoms that make America and Texas great — and we are just getting started.”
“I thank President Trump for his leadership, and I will continue to fight for the values that make Texas the greatest state in America.”
Abbott currently faces two primary challengers — former state Senator Don Huffines and conservative humorist Chad Prather — for his 2022 re-election bid.
After the endorsement, Huffines shot back with his own statement, calling himself the “clear Trump candidate in the Texas governor’s race.”
“Governor Abbott is unable to say the same and actively worked against President Trump on the most critical issue facing Texas: the southern border,” he continued.
Just before the endorsement was released on Tuesday, Abbott issued a disaster declaration for Texas’ border counties due to illegal immigration. In many of his first radio spots upon declaring candidacy, Huffines consistently hit Abbott for what he sees as the governor’s lethargy on the issue.
After Huffines made the talk radio rounds hammering Abbott on the border, Abbott and the Texas Department of Public Safety held a press conference announcing the seizure of 95 pounds of fentanyl on the southern border in 2021 — enough to kill 21.5 million people.
The border appears to be a lynchpin issue for the gubernatorial primary as opponents try to run to the right of the incumbent governor and he tries to head them off at the pass.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
