Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hit back at New York City’s mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday after he threatened to campaign for his opponent, Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke.
The Democratic mayor told reporters at a City Hall press conference that he told allies in Texas “how to cast their vote” in the gubernatorial election and suggested campaigning for O’Rourke in the state. The mayor said this in response to Abbott’s administration sending a first bus of illegal migrants to New York City on Friday.
“I kind of feel like Clint Eastwood. Go ahead, mayor, make my day,” Abbott told Fox News host Harris Faulkner. “There could hardly be anything better to aid my campaign against Beto O’Rourke than to have Beto O’Rourke have his campaign aided by a bunch of New Yorkers. That will not be viewed very positively in the state of Texas.”
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The governor said Texans are “fed up” with President Joe Biden’s handling of the “chaos” caused by the border crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“This is rank hypocrisy by the New York governor, by the New York mayor. Listen, New York is a sanctuary city. Mayor Adams said that they welcome in illegal immigrants and now once they have to deal with the reality of it, they’re suddenly flummoxed and they cannot handle it. They are now getting a taste of what we’re having to deal with,” Abbott added.
The first bus of 24 illegal immigrants sent by Abbott arrived in Washington D.C. on April 13. Fourteen were dropped off in the city the following day, then 30 on the third day. Around 3,500 migrants have been bussed to the city from Texas and Arizona since April, according to the Washingtonian. (RELATED: ‘Cute Photo Op’: Kari Lake Criticizes Republican Governors Bussing Illegal Migrants To Major Cities)
The governor said in the interview that the small Texan communities “cannot handle” the number of migrants coming across the border, and therefore are sending them to larger cities. He added that his administration is working with the National Guard to return migrants back across the border and arresting them for trespassing.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin denied Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Aug. 5 request to deploy the National Guard to handle the influx of migrants being dropped off in the city from Texas and Arizona. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre previously said that the White House has been in constant communication with Adams and Bowser’s offices, then accused the Republican governors involved in the bussing process of using migrants as a “political play.”