Posted on 07/11/2021 1:44:30 PM PDT by RandFan
Former state Sen. Don Huffines (R), who is waging a bid against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for the party’s gubernatorial nomination, took on the sitting governor on Sunday, calling him a Republican in name only, commonly referred to as “RINO.”
“We don't have a Donald Trump as governor, we don't have a Ron DeSantis as governor, we don't have a William B. Travis as governor. Unfortunately we've got a career politician that's a political windsock, a RINO,” Huffines said of Abbott, at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), according to Newsweek.
Huffines, who represented a Dallas-based state Senate district for four years until 2019, launched a primary bid against Abbott in May.
At CPAC, Huffines critiqued Abbott for his handling of the surge in border crossings, asking the crowd “why isn’t the border secure?” after years of leadership under Abbott.
“Greg Abbott's been governor for six years. He could have secured the border six years ago or six months ago,” Abbott said.
Huffines also zeroed in on Abbott’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, attacking him for his decision to impose restrictions on the state’s economy.
“He put 3 million Texans on unemployment and dependent on the government in one day. He closed our churches on the holiest week of the year, Easter," Huffines said.
“Under my administration Texas will never go blue,” he continued.
The former state senator also took on the sitting governor in response to issues with the state’s power grid during a storm in February, calling the incident “another embarrassment of failed leadership.”
“Earlier this year, we were within four minutes of our electrical grid having a complete meltdown and sending us all into the Stone Age,” Huffines said, according to The Dallas Morning News.
“Texas is the energy capital of the world. It’s another embarrassment of failed leadership ... they can’t even keep the lights on,” he added.
Huffines also noted that Abbott was not in attendance at the conference, telling the audience “Why isn’t he here… he’s not here because he doesn’t want to face you.”
Abbott, however, is not attending the conference because he set 11 agenda items for lawmakers to work on during a special session that began on Thursday, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Either Abbott is engaging in self-criticism or the writer/editors from the Hill have failed at their job. :-P
Isn’t it time to upgrade that tag to American In Name Only or AINO
He’s called a RINO? Seriously? The governor has stood up to Democrats time and again. He has earned the conservative title. Reagan said to never speak ill of your own side, and here comes a guy setting wildfires with cruel accusations.
I will trust Abbotm thank you.
No governor should have imposed any restrictions in the first place.
All governors were getting COVID restriction pressure from the White House Task Force chaired by Mike Pence.
The “Response Coordinator” was Dr. Deborah Birx who went from state to state or contacted the state officials spoke to the media etc. etc. about what restrictions needed to be imposed in each state.
Birx retired with the change to Biden but she sent out the orders to the “Red” states and many GOP governors went along with her to varying degrees.
Fauci is still around to kick around but never forget Dr. Deborah Birx and what she did when she had power.
He may not be perfect but rinos don’t secure the border.
The challenger must be desperate already.
TRUE
I saw him on Warroom yesterday. Him or West look better than Abbott.
His lockdowns were way too strict, for way too long. He was also all in for windmills and solar. He did nothing about that criminal gouging on the electric bills.
I never saw him make a move when those disgraceful drag queen story hours were happening at public libraries. And he was -way- too soft on the BLM riots and road blocks.
He is ok, but that’s about it... just ok.
More or less, he’s a Bushie.
If Abbott is a RINO, a what does that make Romney?
I agree with others, desperation here.
West could be in the race to split the vote three ways for Abbott.
The RINO’s are well over 90 percent of current elected Republicans who can only save their skins if Donald Trump will tolerate their continued existence in public office.
Often he does tolerate RINO’s as long as they play ball with him.
I saw the wind turbines west of Amarillo in 2016 what an awful thing. The spoiling of the land.
Oh please. Abbott is all talk, no action. He said 2 months ago that he was making a stand agsint Biden to defend the border. So who is sending troops there? South Dakota, Arkansas Florida and Ohio, because they are sick of the illegals from Texas coming to their state. Abbott is a RINO douchebag. Only one that has shown leadership has been Paxton.
My only beef, and it's since been remedied, is that Abbott was a bit slow out of the blocks on the border.
I hope that the GOP (and indie) voters rally around Abbott and stay unshakably united.
Abbott failed on the border issue.
Inexcusable.
Very true! But our Gov. Stitt wasn't one of them, thank goodness. He gave Scarf Lady some vague compliments, had the appropriate look of concern on his face at pressers, and paid lip-service to her directives -- but only until she was gone. Then he promptly got back to the business of re-opening OK on his citizens' terms.
He's not perfect, but sometimes he shows a surprising (and pleasing) amount of spine.
I like that one.
Post 9 is from a Texan, BobL, what do other Texans think about Aabbot?
My relatives in TX are sticking with Abbott.
Agreed. I don't think he's a bad guy, but while his current actions look pretty positive, there's a vibe (to me, anyway) of "too little, too late".
My biggest beef with him would be his handling of the winter outages. I believe that he can do better, but HAS TO step up his game in a big way, and do it consistently. Just my $.02.
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