LET THEM FIGHT: Abbott apoplectic over DeSantis’ thunder-stealing human trafficking plan
The bromance between Governors Greg Abbott (TX) and Ron DeSantis (FL) may officially be over after the Florida fascist’s latest stunt transporting legal migrants from the Lone Star State to New England has ruffled the Texas führer’s feathers.
Abbott has been working overtime pandering to his anti-immigrant and xenophobic base in recent months, busing migrants from Texas to Democratic strongholds in Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C., and dropping asylum seekers on the doorsteps of the United States Capitol and other “sanctuary” states.
“No one in the Texas governor’s office was given a heads-up that Mr. DeSantis planned to round up migrants in San Antonio.”
Abbot’s MAGA glory was short-lived when his Florida counterpart stole the spotlight with his one-upper move. According to The New York Times:
In Florida, Mr. DeSantis mused to donors last year about Mr. Abbott’s good political fortune to share 1,254 miles of border with Mexico and complained that he didn’t have the same to use as a backdrop, according to one person familiar with the conversation.
The twin fascists have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat cruelty campaign that has demonized the LGBTQ community, persecuted those who disagree in legal and political arenas, and used their positions to circumvent the democratic process to further their own agendas. But apparently DeSantis has broken the bro-code rules.
Not informing his Texas equal about his cruel and duplicitous plans and leaving Abbott out in the cold has the Lone Star State’s governor feeling unloved.
Abbott has taken the more traditional Republican route to political success whereas DeSantis on the other hand was propelled to GOP stardom after an endorsement from then-President Donald Trump during his 2018 campaign – something he’d unapologetically forget in search of his authoritarian dreams.
There’s been talk of DeSantis gunning for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination—not so much for Abbott. In fact, there’s been no chatter at all in that regard.
To the Texas governor’s chagrin, DeSantis has been doing his own thing, upping the ante on fascism, cruelty, racism, and anti-migrant sentiment, much to the delight of hard-core Trumpers and bonafide bigots. According to the New York Times report, Turning Point USA was really impressed:
Mr. DeSantis embarked on his own victory lap, promoting the migrant flights during campaign stops with Republican candidates for governor in Kansas and Wisconsin. Those events were organized not by the Republican Governors Association, but by Turning Point USA, a group of younger and more provocative conservative activists close to Mr. Trump and his family.
Once neck and neck in political stunting and performative racism, Abbott seems to be pulling up the rear in the contest to see who can cause the most misery. As far as their tenuous relationship goes—let them fight.
Original reporting by Michael C. Bender and J. David Goodman at The New York Times.
Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick
