Texas Governor Greg Abbott told Fox News on Monday night that Democrats who fled the state to stop legitimate democratic processes from being carried out by the state’s legislature will “be arrested” the moment that they step foot back in the state and hauled to the state Capitol to do their jobs.
More than 50 Democrats fled the state on private planes so there would not be enough legislators present for a variety of bills to be passed, including voter integrity laws, bills that would protect girls from having to compete against biological males in sports, fund arrests of illegal aliens, clampdown on abortion, and crackdown on racist Critical Race Theory being taught in schools.
“Isn’t that the most un-Texan thing you’ve ever heard? Texans running from a fight? They’re quitters,” Abbott told Fox News. “It’s like during a football game or baseball game, taking their equipment when they’re way behind and just leaving the field. That is not the way that Texas, Texans do things.”
“We have special sessions that last 30 days, and the governor calls them and I will continue calling special session after special session, because over time it’s going to continue until they step up to vote,” Abbott continued. “The thesis that they are operating under is completely false, because what the Texas law does, doesn’t hinder anybody’s ability to vote. And in fact, interestingly, what Texas is seeking to do is to add additional hours to vote. Texas has 12 days of early voting and the hours of which will be expanded. And we will ensure that hours are expanded on Election Day also. So their entire thesis is completely wrong. And compare early voting in Texas with early voting that we have in Delaware. Texas has 12 days of early voting. Delaware has zero days of early voting. Why am I picking on Delaware? Because that is where the President himself voted in the last election. And if anybody wants to talk about voter suppression, they should be talking about Delaware, not Texas.”
Abbott noted that the lawmakers were effectively “using a filibuster to flee the state of Texas to plead with the president to do away with the filibuster in Washington, D.C.,” which he noted was “hypocrisy on its face.”
“And that’s one reason why they’re losing the arguments with regard to voting on this issue and other issues in the state of Texas,” Abbott said. “But I want to point this out for your viewers who are watching from Texas, because by the Democrats fleeing, they’re also fleeing what we’re trying to achieve by cutting your property taxes and by making sure that we secure the border, by funding very important projects such as law enforcement in communities that have high crime. And so by fleeing the state of Texas, they’re doing more than just appealing to the President. They’re using taxpayer money on this political junket to Washington, D.C., to prevent us from passing laws that will make our communities better.”
Abbott said that the Democrats were still taking taxpayer money while going on their trip to subvert democracy while also “doing fundraising projects online trying to raise money for this.”
“What the law is, it’s in the Constitution, and that is the house, the State House of Representatives who were here in the Capitol in Austin right now, they do have the ability to issue a call to have their fellow members who are not showing up to be arrested, but only so long as that arrest is made in the state of Texas,” Abbott said. “That’s why they have fled the state. Once they step back into the state of Texas, they will be arrested and brought to the Texas Capitol, and we will be conducting business.”
"Most Un-Texan Thing To Do": @GregAbbott_TX mocks Dems for "running away from a fight," says they fled state bc they can be arrested for refusing work
Abbott also notes they're complaining about a bill that expands voting access far more than states like Delaware currently have pic.twitter.com/xXcwVkGdLA
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 13, 2021