Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott slammed President Joe Biden on Tuesday over his criticism of the state’s recently blocked election security bill, suggesting that the president probably didn’t even read the legislation before slandering it.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Biden criticized the Senate bill without even having ever read it,” Abbott charged during an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “I bet he doesn’t have a clue what’s in there.”
Abbott said that if he had read it, he would have discovered that the proposed law is more expansive than voting laws in Biden’s progressive home state of Delaware.
“The voter law in the state of Texas is far more accommodative and provides far more hours to vote than it does in President Biden’s home state of Delaware, where he voted in the last election, where they offer exactly zero early voting days,” the governor argued. “If there’s any voter suppression taking place, the easier allegation is say that voter suppression has taken place in Delaware, not Texas.”
Biden — who notoriously lied about similar legislation passed in Georgia earlier this year — had continued his careless assault on Republican-led state election security measures by taking aim at the new bill under consideration in Texas.
“It’s part of an assault on democracy that we’ve seen far too often this year — and often disproportionately targeting Black and Brown Americans,” the president said in a statement about the bill last week. “It’s wrong and un-American.”
On Tuesday, the president doubled down on his attacks during a speech commemorating the 100-year anniversary of a horrific race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“This sacred right [to vote] is under assault … with an intensity and aggressiveness we have not seen in a long, long time,” Biden said. “It is simply un-American. It’s not, however, sadly, unprecedented.”
The legislation, which was expected to pass in the state, was blocked Monday after Democratic lawmakers staged a walkout from the Senate chambers, effectively killing the legislation by denying quorum.
In response, Abbott threatened to target state lawmakers’ salaries, tweeting, “I will veto Article 10 of the budget passed by the legislature … No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities. Stay tuned.”
Republican leaders reportedly vowed in the aftermath of the walkout to push forward with their efforts in a special session of the state legislature.
