Greg Abbott: ‘You Need a New President’ as He Endorses Donald Trump

EDINGURG, Texas  — Texas Governor Greg Abbott endorsed former President Donald Trump in his race to become the Republican nominee for President of the United States.

“You need a new president,” Abbott said to the mayors of New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. on Sunday. “Joe Biden has failed at national security. We need a president that will secure the border.”

“We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of the United States of America. We need a president who is going to secure the border,” Abbott said. “I’m here today to officially proclaim my endorsement for Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States of America, again.”

“Joe Biden is causing a potential terror threat in the United States of America,” Abbott said at the event referencing the number of migrant gotaways and those apprehended and identified as being on the terrorist watch list. “A president has one ultimate responsibility and that’s national security. Joe Biden has failed at national security. Well, I’m here to tell you that there is no way, no way that America can continue under the leadership of Joe Biden as our president.”

Trump responded, saying to Abbott, “I am going to make your job much easier. We love Texas.”

“You’re not going to have to worry about the border anymore, governor,” Trump stated. “You’re not going to have to worry about the border in Texas or Arizona or anywhere else.”

The former president added, “You’ll be able to focus on other things in Texas.”

Trump told the audience the nod from Abbott was “a big endorsement.”

“This has meant a lot to me, the former president explained. Abbott is “not free and easy with endorsements.”

Shortly before the endorsement event, President Trump and Governor Abbott served an early Thanksgiving lunch to the Texas DPS troopers and National Guardsmen who are assigned to the Operation Lone Star border security mission.

“They should not be here at this time,” Abbott told the audience. “They should be at home. The only reason why they are here is because we have a president of the United States of America who is not securing our border.”

The endorsement came as President Trump and Governor Abbott served tamales to Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and National Guard Soldiers and Airmen in a pre-Thanksgiving meal. The troopers and Guardsmen are assigned to border security duty under Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.

Abbott becomes the fifth governor to endorse the former president during the 2024 Republican primary and joins Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller on the growing list of Texas statewide elected officials.

Then-President Trump received 52 percent of the vote during his 2020 presidential race against Joe Biden. Trump captured nearly 5.6 million votes in the Lone Star State.

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Border issues were a key factor in the Texas election of 2020. During Fiscal Year 2020, President Trump’s last full year in office, Border Patrol agents encountered just over 400,000 migrants. Under the Biden administration’s border and immigration policies, agents encountered just over 407.000 migrants just in the past two months, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Southwest Land Border Encounters Reports.

The governor’s endorsement followed an early Thanksgiving dinner served to DPS troopers and Texas National Guardsmen by the governor and President Trump.

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council told the audience attending the speech that President Trump shook every hand and took photos with every trooper and guardsman who came to him during the luncheon.

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.