Abbott Fox Ambush Prompts Admission
on Silence on Sex Crimes Under Trump

Capitol Inside
April 11, 2021

Texas Republicans who are afraid to do national television interviews with questions from serious journalists may no longer have anywhere to go for guaranteed softballs after a Fox News show host called out Governor Greg Abbott on Sunday for hypocrisy with his claims on sexual abuse at a federal migrant holding center in San Antonio.

Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace threw Abbott a curve when he confronted him on the double-standard that the governor had on display last week with unfounded allegations about young people being victims of sexual assault and mistreatment at the makeshift facility at the Freeman Coliseum complex near downtown in the Alamo City.

Wallace asked Abbott why he'd been mum when the same accusations were being aired when Republican Donald Trump was the president.

"Governor, there were thousands of complaints of sexual abuse at migrant shelters during the Trump years, not to say that what's going on now is right, but we couldn't find one instance of you complaining and calling that out when President Trump was president," Wallace said.

Abbott appeared to be caught off guard by the question on the cable news channel where he and other Texas Republicans like Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick have become accustomed to being questioned by TV personalities who usually fawn over them and vigorously agree with everything they say.

Abbott showed he wasn't prepared for the question - and the answer the governor gave this morning made it appear like he'd been keeping Texans in the dark about sexual abuse at migrant facilities here during the Trump administration.

"The Trump administration remained in constant communication with me and with my office and let us know what was going on," Abbott said - adding that he'd seen reports on a regular basis about sex crimes at the holding shelters here during the ousted ex-leader's reign.

"Today, the Biden administration has done nothing to address these situations that will lead only to more allegations of child sex abuse," Abbott contended in an impromptu defense of his silence that would have contributed to the problems now based on his own reasoning. The problems ostensibly wouldn't be as bad if GOP leaders like the Texas governor hadn't kept the information under wraps.

Abbott has been using the Biden White House as a verbal whipping post at every opportunity in an apparent bid for support among hardline conservatives for a potential presidential bid in 2024. The governor ramped up the war of words last week when he ordered the state police to investigate the allegations as they apply to the current president.

"The Biden administration opened the borders and failed to plan for the influx of unaccompanied children crossing the border, and now we are faced with our worst fears—allegations of child abuse and neglect," Abbott declared last week without evidence to back up the claims.

"I am calling on the Biden administration to close this facility, and I am directing the DPS and the Texas Rangers to immediately begin investigating these allegations," Abbott said at a photo op at the fairgrounds next to the AT&T Center where the San Antonio Spurs play their home games. "President Biden's disastrous decisions caused this crisis, and his administration must act now to protect these children, secure the border and end this crisis."

Longtime Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff - a Democrat who served in the Texas House and Senate - said that he'd seen nothing to suggest that there had been any truth to the governor's allegations.

Democrats have accused Abbott and the Republicans of distorting an increase in illegal border crossings after holding their tongues on the influx of migrants for four years under Trump.