Texas Governor Endorses Trump and Praises His Border Policy
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott endorsed former President Donald J. Trump during an appearance at the southern border on Sunday, following Trump’s speech about an existential crisis of illegal immigration.
“I am here to tell you that there is no way America can move forward under the leadership of Joe Biden as our president,” Mr. Abbott said in Edinburg, Texas, after he and Mr. Trump greeted border patrol agents. . “We need a president who is going to secure the border. We need a president who will restore law and order in the United States of America.”
Mr. Abbott, a three-term governor with a strongly conservative record, blasted President Biden for reversing Trump-era policies that had expedited deportations and required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico pending hearings, claiming that Mr. Biden facilitated terrorism.
Mr. Abbott has taken extraordinary measures at border crossings during the Biden administration — including installing razor wire along the border and buoys in the Rio Grande — leaving many migrants injured. Under his administration, Texas has also transported tens of thousands of newly arrived migrants across the country, often to major cities run by Democrats.
His aggressive policies are closely aligned with Mr. Trump, whose plans, if elected to a second term, include detaining undocumented immigrants in camps, relying on a form of deportation that does not involve hearings, and replacing local police officers and National Guard troops. of Republican-led states to conduct immigration raids.
Trump took the microphone after the endorsement and delivered an unusually short speech: just 10 minutes long, compared to his 75-minute speech in Iowa on Saturday and nearly two hours in New Hampshire last weekend. Trump’s appearance at the border was unlike his typical campaign events this year and was not widely accessible to supporters.
“We’re going to make the governor’s job very easy,” he said, suggesting that his immigration policies would eliminate the need for Mr. Abbott to deal with the issue and falsely claiming that Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had never visited the country. border.
“Our country is going to hell,” he added, before returning to familiar territory of demonizing his political opponents: “We have some people who don’t care, who aren’t very smart or who don’t want our country hate, and no one really knows the answer.”
Both this weekend and last weekend, he railed extensively against President Biden and vowed revenge on his opponents, whom he described as “vermin” who posed a greater threat to the country than any outside force – rhetoric reminiscent of fascist dictators like Hitler and Mussolini. .
In addition to Mr. Abbott, Mr. Trump has received support from a number of Republican governors, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, Henry McMaster of South Carolina and Kristi Noem of South Dakota.
However, he did not receive the support of Governor Kim Reynolds, the popular Governor of Iowa, who is instead supporting Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.