Gov. Abbott backs Trump for president

Gov. Greg Abbott showed his support for former President Donald J. Trump Sunday by endorsing him for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election at the South Texas International Airport at Edinburg.

“I’m here to tell you that there is no way, no way that America can continue under the leadership of Joe Biden as our president,” Abbott said. “We need a president who’s going to secure the border. … We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America. I’m here today to officially proclaim my endorsement for Donald J. Trump to be president of the United States of America again.”

If elected for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Trump said he was going to make the jobs in Texas and Abbott’s job very easy.

“I’m honored by the governor’s endorsement,” Trump said. “ … He’s not free and easy with endorsements. You look at his record. You don’t do too many endorsements, I have to tell you that, governor. … We are going to go out and we’re going to ‘Make America Great Again.’”

By the end of the Biden administration, Trump said there will be 15 million people who have come to the country illegally, making it “bigger than New York state.”

“We are going to take over that border,” Trump said. “We are going to have the most secure border in our history. Now, we have the most unsecure border in the history, I believe, really, of the world. I don’t think there’s ever been a country in history that has had a border where millions and millions and millions of people are flowing into our country.”

Brandon Judd, National Border Patrol Council president, said he is thankful to live in the “most generous country in the entire world.”

“Our laws are what allow us to be free,” Judd said. “Our laws are what make us the country that we are but when we choose to selectively enforce those laws, you become less safe, your children become less safe, your grandchildren become less safe. And when that happens, society falls apart.”

He said Abbott has created the best state in the entire country. 

“What’s funny about that is the more he does a good job the more … the mainstream media goes after him,” Judd said. “And they want to call him a racist. They want to call him a xenophobe. They want to call him a nationalist. And that is so far from the truth. … And governor, the media is after you just a little bit less than they are after [former] President Trump.”

Before the endorsement, Trump and Abbott greeted and served Thanksgiving meals to Texas National Guard soldiers, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and other service members stationed on the border.

“I come here every Thanksgiving to give thanks to the men and women in uniform,” Abbott said. “ … They should not be here at this time. They should be at home. 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. If Joe Biden was just enforcing the laws that currently exist, our border will be secure.”

He said he’s tired of the open-border policies.

“Joe Biden is such an abject failure at securing the border,” Abbott said. “ … Then when I put these buoys in the water to stop people from coming in illegally, Joe Biden [filed] a lawsuit called United States of America v. Greg Abbott. Greg Abbott is going to win that lawsuit. I can tell you that much.”

During his 10-minute speech, Trump said the Biden administration is not doing their job.

“Well, I’ve been here many times, I would say Biden has probably been here, never,” he said, while more than 100 Trump supporters laughed in the background. “[Biden] said he was here once but they were trying to figure out when because it went so quickly. … The person who’s in charge of it, [Vice President] Kamala [Harris], she’s never been here. And you can’t be doing the job if you never see your sight, your problem.”

Trump claimed nothing good has happened during the Biden administration.

“So many bad things have happened under the Biden administration,” he said. “I can’t think of anything good. … The economy is not good. The inflation is the worst ever. We were energy independent just three years ago, we were soon going to be energy dominant. And now … we get our oil from Venezuela. How about that?”

Kara Chasteen, Burnet County chair for the Republican Party Executive Committee, and Mary Jane Avery, vice president and Precinct 20 chair for the Burnet County Republican Party Executive Committee, attended the event Sunday.

Chasteen and Avery said they were happy for Abbott’s endorsement. They said the border would not be safe until the U.S. elects Trump as their president.

McAllen resident Kimberly Avendaño also attended Sunday’s event, showing her support for Trump.

“I love that he actually gives people the time, like others don’t, especially with the border being such a big issue,” Avendaño said. “It’s great to see that someone actually cares enough to come down here and talk about it and see what’s going on.”

Avendaño’s parents’ property is right along the border in Mission and she has seen the issue firsthand since she was a kid.

“When I was a kid, it was different,” she said. “People came over, they had Bibles. They asked for work. They were very polite. In the most recent years, the ones that come over, they try to break into the cars, break into the house. They go after the dogs. They’re carrying weapons.”

Asked about her thoughts on border security, she replied it is not safe.

“We see hundreds and hundreds of groups come through,” she said. “It’s extremely, extremely rare that you actually see people from Mexico. You see China, Brazil, people coming across from all different countries, Afghanistan, Iran, a bunch of MS-13 gang members. It’s not a great situation. … We need to change.”

Trump described MS-13 as “some of the most vicious people.”

“Nothing good has happened in this administration,” Trump said. “ … And so, we have to remember Border Patrol. We have to remember ICE and all of the people that are in law enforcement, including the incredible people from Texas that are now stepping up at a level that nobody’s had to do before.”