Abbott Touts Drag Show Ban with Post on X
from Racist, Anti-Semite and Pro-Russia Site

Capitol Inside
March 16, 2024

Governor Greg Abbott took a shot at drag performers on Saturday when he circulated a report on social media from an alt-right web site that's been known as a Russian propaganda tool that caters to white supremacists, anti-Semites and conspiracy kooks.

The article that Abbott pulled from zerohedge.com revolved on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that denied a group of students at West Texas A&M University in Canyon the right to stage a drag contest at the school. Abbott repost the piece on X with the second major line that he's drawn in the sand this week. The university in the Panhandle north of Amarillo cited a new state law when it rejected their application for the competition there.

"Drag shows are not welcome at Texas universities," the Republican governor declared. "Our focus is to educate the next generation, not indoctrinate them."

Abbott could have learned about the high court decision from any major news source including Fox News - the sole source of information on current events for many GOP voters in the Lone Star State and beyond. While the Texas leader has relied increasingly in recent years on right-wing television and Internet for news and tweeter fodder, his choice of Zero Hedge for informing Texans about the student drag show snub has the potential to backfire even though he has nothing to gain from an association.

Abbott - for starters - has gone to great lengths to demonstrate his support for Israel in the warring with terrorists that erupted there last fall. Abbott created the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission to guard against antisemitism just weeks after the first Hamas strike in October. The governor also approved a $19 million public safety grant for boosting security at synogogues and other churches in the wake of the attacks. Abbott issued an order that banned state agencies from doing business or investments with private companies that boycott Israel. Abbott even traveled to Israel to express his support face to face.

Abbott was just as enthusiastic with his support for Ukraine in the early stages of the Russian invasion there. Abbott conducted prayer vigils Ukraine in conference calls with religious leaders. That's why his dependence on Zero Hedge for news on politics and the courts may raise eyebrows.

Zero Hedge had its account suspended by Twitter in 2020 when it was also banned from the Google Ads platforms for violation policy that explicitly prohibits "derogatory content that promotes hatred, intolerance, violence or discrimination based on race from monetizing." 

The Abbott post included a photograph from the zerohedge.com story that showed a woman with a large sign that said "STOP Sexualizing CHILDREN" in giant dark letters. The governor has never sought to define the term "sexualize" or to explain how it applies to kids in Texas.

more to come ...