Abbott Pirates Spotlight from Trump
and Gives GOP Possible Alternative
Capitol Inside
February 3, 2024
Governor Greg Abbott could be hurting Donald Trump's chances to be president with a showdown on the southern border that's monopolized the spotlight in recent weeks and transformed the Texas leader into President Joe Biden's chief nemesis in the early stages of the primary season.
The former president has found it impossible to compete for attention with Abbott since the governor spurned the U.S. Supreme Court in January in the wake of a ruling that gave the Border Patrol permission to remove razor coils that Abbott's military forces have installed on the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass.
Abbott informed the country that he's the "supreme law of the land" now at the border in Texas - an unprecedented status that he was able to achieve unilaterally by declaring that the Lone Star State is under invasion by drug cartels and migrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries.
Abbott's supremacy could be short-lived if Biden activates the Texas National Guard to protect the state from the institutional anarchy that the governor and GOP partisans are promoting with the defiance of the nation's highest court. But Abbott revealed this week that he has a secret plan to counter the federalization of the National Guard like Democrats are urging Biden to do for the sake of upholding the oath that he took to protect the U.S. Constitution that Texas is ignoring.
The top Texas official plans to show off his work before it's too late at a briefing that 13 other governors for the GOP are scheduled to attend on Sunday in Eagle Pass. The number of media organizations that have been invited to be on hand for the event has been limited to five - with pool coverage provided by CBS News, NewsNation and the Telemundo affiliate in McAllen. The Houston Chronicle and the Austin American-Statesman will have reporters there for pool reports as well according to an email from the governor's office on Friday night.
The governors who Abbott will be hosting may not be concerned that the clash with the Biden administration at the border has the potential to backfire in ways they would not want to imagine if they could. But Abbott is stealing the thunder from the Republicans' probable presidential nominee at a time when Trump appears to be losing momentum and has been distracted by a myriad of legal woes while facing criminal indictments in four separate places as the new election year gets off the ground.
While the nation is bracing for a possible rematch from the 2020 White House vote, Abbott could be a bigger threat to Trump now than Biden as a consequence of the Texan's rogue-like behavior and antics that have garnered more publicity than any governor in the U.S. has enjoyed since George Wallace in Alabama in the 1960s.
Abbott would be thrilled if Trump tapped him for the number two spot on the national ticket this year. But Republicans voters could still decide that Abbott would have better odds as the White House nominee who wouldn't bring as much baggage as Trump to the contest. Abbott in turn could offer the VP slot to Trump if GOP primary voters decided they wanted fresh blood at the ticket's pinnacle.
But Republicans have shown up to now that they'd rather lose with Trump that roll the dice on someone else. The GOP lost control of the White House and Congress since Trump took over the party. Trump has won one and lost one as far as his electoral record is concerned.
Abbott in contrast in undefeated.
more to come ... |
