With a simple statement, the man from Mar-a-Lago can still make or break political fortunes. Exhibit A: the GOP primaries in Texas. This summer, former President Donald Trump issued his “Complete and Total Endorsement” of two of Texas’ most powerful Republicans—Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton—who both face the toughest primary battles of their careers in 2022.
The endorsement was a major coup for Abbott, who hasn’t had the close relationship with Trump that other top Texas Republicans have enjoyed. His already tepid relationship with the party’s right wing soured after his use of emergency powers during the pandemic was perceived as tyrannical. The tumult prompted a pair of hard-line challengers—former state Senator Don Huffines and Florida-man-turned-Texas-GOP-chair Allen West—to attempt to dethrone King Abbott.
That’s probably why, after the November elections, Abbott launched into a flattering rendition of Trumpism in an apparent attempt to woo the former president and simmer the resentment and acrimony within his party’s far-right ranks. While the Legislature was in session this spring, the governor traipsed around the state, blasting President Joe Biden on immigration and border security every chance he got. He pledged to continue Trump’s legacy by proposing a plan for the state to build its own border wall and using state troopers and the state militia as his personal border patrol brigade.
