NewsPoliticsTop StoryUS

Trump picks up the endorsement of Texas Governor Greg Abbott

Donald Trump picked up the Texas governor’s endorsement Sunday during a visit to a U.S.-Mexico border town and promised that his hard-line immigration policies in a second presidential term would make Greg Abbott’s “job much easier.” “You’ll be able to focus on other things in Texas,” Trump told Abbott as they each appeared before a crowd of about 150 at an airport hangar in Edinburg.

Quick Read

  • Texas Governor’s Endorsement:
    • Texas Governor Greg Abbott endorses Donald Trump during his visit to a U.S.-Mexico border town.
    • Trump promises his immigration policies would ease Abbott’s border responsibilities.
  • Trump’s Immigration Policies:
    • Proposes a second term with a hard-line immigration approach.
    • Plans include building more of the border wall and expanding the controversial travel ban.
  • Trump’s Specific Policy Plans:
    • Intends to implement new “ideological screening” for immigrants.
    • Aims to deport immigrants with “jihadist sympathies.”
    • Proposes ending birthright citizenship and cutting off funding for illegal immigrants.
    • Seeks to shift federal law enforcement focus to immigration and border security.
  • Abbott’s Immigration Actions:
    • Abbott has been actively fighting with the Biden administration over immigration.
    • Approves new border wall construction and other strict immigration measures.
  • Political Dynamics:
    • Trump’s views on immigration have been a major aspect of his political identity.
    • Abbott’s stance has garnered him significant support in Texas, despite some criticisms within the GOP.
  • Public and Political Reactions:
    • Democrats criticize Trump’s immigration plans as extreme.
    • Polls show Trump leading Biden in public opinion on handling immigration and border security issues.

The Associated Press has the story:

Trump picks up the endorsement of Texas Governor Greg Abbott

Newslooks- EDINBURG, Texas (AP)

Donald Trump picked up the Texas governor’s endorsement Sunday during a visit to a U.S.-Mexico border town and promised that his hard-line immigration policies in a second presidential term would make Greg Abbott’s “job much easier.”

“You’ll be able to focus on other things in Texas,” Trump told Abbott as they each appeared before a crowd of about 150 at an airport hangar in Edinburg.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, right, after he received Abbott’s endorsement at the South Texas International Airport Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Abbott, a longtime ally and fellow border hawk, said he was proud to endorse the former president, who is the Republican Party’s front-runner for the 2024 nomination.

“We need a president who’s going to secure the border,” Abbott said, speaking in a town that is about 30 miles from the Hidalgo Port of Entry crossing with Mexico. “We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America.”

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, right, is introduced by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at the South Texas International Airport Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. Abbott and Trump help serve a Thanksgiving meal to Texas state troopers and guardsmen. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Earlier, Trump served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving. Trump and Abbott handed out tacos, and the former president shook hands and posed for pictures.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump helps serve food to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

“What you do is incredible, and you want it to be done right,” Trump told them.

Abbott said about the Guard members and Texas troopers who are stationed at the border: “They should not be here at this time. They should be at home.” He said that ”the only reason why they are here is because we have a president of the United States of America who is not securing our border.”

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump helps serve food to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Trump has been laying out immigration proposals that would mark a dramatic escalation of the approach he used in office and that drew alarms from civil rights activists and numerous court challenges. Though Trump has peppered campaign speeches with his immigration plans, he only made brief remarks in border country on Sunday. He spoke for only about 10 minutes against a backdrop of state police choppers, a plane and an armed patrol boat — all used by Texas at the border.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, left, helps serve food to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas, as valet Walt Nauta looks on second from left. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Trump did not get into the policies he would pursue if elected. He did complain about inflation, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and news media coverage. He said most technology outside of wheels and walls eventually becomes obsolete.

“We just need the walls. And it worked,” Trump said.

His plan calls for building more of the wall along the border.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott help serve food to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

He also wants to:

— revive and expand his controversial travel ban, which initially targeted seven Muslim-majority countries. Trump’s initial executive order was fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld what Trump complained was a “watered down” version that included travelers from North Korea and some Venezuelan officials.

— begin new “ideological screening” for all immigrants, aiming to bar “Christian-hating communists and Marxists” and “dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots and maniacs” from entering the United States. “Those who come to and join our country must love our country,” he has said.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump poses for a photo with a Texas state trooper as he helps serve food to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

— bar those who support Hamas. “If you empathize with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists, you’re disqualified,” Trump says. “If you want to abolish the state of Israel, you’re disqualified. If you support Hamas or any ideology that’s having to do with that or any of the other really sick thoughts that go through people’s minds — very dangerous thoughts — you’re disqualified.”

— deport immigrants living in the country who harbor “jihadist sympathies” and send immigration agents to “pro-jihadist demonstrations” to identify violators. He would target foreign nationals on college campuses and revoke the student visas of those who express anti-American or antisemitic views.

Supporters wait to greet Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump at the South Texas International Airport Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

— invoke the Alien Enemies Act to to remove from the United States all known or suspected gang members and drug dealers. That law was used to justify internment camps in World War II. It allows the president to unilaterally detain and deport people who are not U.S. citizens.

— end the constitutional right to birthright citizenship by signing an executive order his first day in office that would codify a legally untested reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment. Under his order, only children with at least one U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident parent would be eligible for a passport, Social Security number and other benefits.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters after he was endorsed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at the South Texas International Airport Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

— terminate all work permits and cut off funding for shelter and transportation for people who are in the country illegally.

— crack down on legal asylum-seekers and reimplement measures such as Title 42, which allowed Trump to turn away immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he helps serve food to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

— press Congress to pass a law so anyone caught trafficking women or children would receive the death penalty.

— shift federal law enforcement agents, including FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration personnel, to immigration enforcement, and reposition at the southern border thousands of troops currently stationed overseas. “Before we defend the borders of foreign countries we must secure the border of our country,” he said said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott endorses Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump during an event at the South Texas International Airport Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Trump has made frequent trips to the border as a candidate and president. During his 2016 campaign, he traveled to Laredo, Texas in July 2015 for a visit that highlighted how his views on immigration helped him win media attention and support from the GOP base.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, left, listens as Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, right, speaks to Texas state troopers and guardsmen during a Thanksgiving meal at the South Texas International Airport, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The border has also become a centerpiece of Abbott’s agenda and the subject of an escalating fight with the Biden administration over immigration. The three-term governor has approved billions of dollars in new border wall construction, authorized razor wire on the banks of the Rio Grande and bused thousands of migrants to Democrat-led cities across the United States.

Abbott is expected to soon sign what would be one of Texas’ most aggressive measures to date: a law that allows police officers to arrest migrants suspected of entering the country illegally and empowers judges to effectively deport them. The measure is a dramatic challenge to the U.S. government’s authority over immigration. It already has already drawn rebuke from Mexico.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump helps serve food to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Still, the Texas GOP’s hard right has not always embraced Abbott. Trump posted on his social media platform earlier this year that the governor was “MISSING IN ACTION!” after Republicans voted to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Trump ally. Abbott was also booed at a 2022 Trump rally.

But Abbott’s navigation within the GOP has built him broad support in Texas, where he has outperformed more strident Republicans down-ballot and helped the GOP make crucial inroads with Hispanic voters.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump greets supporters after speaking at the South Texas International Airport Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Democrats tried to use the trip to portray Trump’s plans as extreme.

“Donald Trump is going after immigrants, our rights our safety and our democracy. And that is what really is on the ballot last year,” Biden reelection campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said on a conference call with reporters.

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott help serve food to Texas National Guard soldiers, troopers and others who will be stationed at the border over Thanksgiving, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, in Edinburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Pollings show many voters aren’t satisfied with the Biden administration’s handling of the border.

A Marquette Law School poll of registered voters conducted in late September gave Trump a 24-point advantage over Biden on handling immigration and border security issues — 52% to 28%.

For more U.S. news

Previous Article
Trump lawyers urge fed. appeals court to revoke gag order in DC election case
Next Article
Microsoft hires Sam Altman, and OpenAI’s new CEO vows to investigate his firing

How useful was this article?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this article.

Latest News

Menu