Gov. Abbott Tells Us What Really Happened on Biden’s Border Visit

BUCK: We are joined by the governor of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott. Governor, appreciate you making the time for us, sir. Thanks for calling in.

GOV. ABBOTT: It’s great to be back with you guys again.

BUCK: So if you would, sir, just tell us, Biden made his trip to the border. He laid out a whole bunch of things that he says they’re doing to address the issue. Is anything that the Biden administration is saying they will do going to make a major or even perceivable difference in your state of Texas when it comes to the lawlessness and chaos at the southern border?

GOV. ABBOTT: Not at all. I mean, they claim to be trying to work out some type of arrangement for a small number of people who come from four different countries. But the fact of the matter is we have people coming from more than 140 different countries. But also, any time the president or the federal government makes any type of deal saying, “Well, we’re going to let these people in,” all that really does is entice even more people from across the entire world to get in, because the attitude of other people is, “Well, gosh, if people from this, that and the other country get to get in and we barnstorm the country, they will start allowing us in!” And if the migrants aren’t thinking that, I’ll tell you who is: The cartels who bring the migrants across the border are thinking that. The bottom line is what Biden is planning — I mean, what he articulated — in this plan will do nothing to stop illegal immigration.

CLAY: You gave Joe Biden — Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, with us right now — a letter when he arrived in your state to officially walk, you know, along the border a little bit in El Paso. Do you get the sense, based on your limited interaction with him, that Joe Biden himself even has any clue what’s really going on? In other words, who would be in your mind really making decisions as it pertains to the border? We know Kamala Harris is supposedly the border czar. She wasn’t there. She hasn’t made any trips. Who’s dictating policy in your mind inside the Biden White House?

GOV. ABBOTT: Well, it’s a pretty good question. It’s a question people have asked for two years now about who really is making decisions in the White House? I can tell you, as it concerns the border, I have no clue. What I will also tell you — and that is — the letter that I handed the president, I opened by saying, “Listen, Mr. President, you said that you wanted to work with Republicans on the border issue — and I, as a Republican, want to work with you. I’m giving you this letter,” and in this letter, it has five policy issues that you can take right now. You say you want to pass legislation? No legislation needs to be passed to do exactly what I’m telling you — and if you take these five steps, you will be able to secure the border.

BUCK: We’re speaking to Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. Give us a sense, Governor, of the escalation in human trafficking, fentanyl, and overall Mexican drug cartel activity that is affecting your state and the rise in that over the last couple of years in particular.

GOV. ABBOTT: Well, you used a good phrase there in “the rise of this” over the last couple of years, because it’s so important for everyone to remember that it was just 2-1/2 years ago, we had the lowest border crossings in the past three or four decades. And that’s because of the very simple policies that President Trump put in place. When Joe Biden came into office, he eliminated all of those four policies. And as a result, this past year, we had the highest number of people crossing the border illegally ever. We had just in this past year alone, about the same population as the city of Houston, Texas, come across the border in one single year.

One of the consequences is one thing that you made reference to, and that is the fentanyl. Putting aside the federal government and whatever they may seize. If you look at just what Texas law enforcement has seized, we have seized enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman and child in the entire country. Let me say this differently. If we did not have Texas law enforcement and our National Guard on the border as we speak right now, enough fentanyl would have evaded Border Patrol — evaded detection, evaded apprehension — and would be crisscrossing the United States as we speak, endangering the population of the entire country.

CLAY: Governor Abbott, we talked about this — and I think it’s a big stat and it’s a big important point and I want you to be able to make it for our audience nationwide here. The Biden administration says they inherited a disaster of a border policy from Donald Trump. Yet when I look at the data, there were more people who illegally crossed the border in 2022 than in all four years of the Trump presidency combined. How much of a lie — you kind of hinted at this in response to Buck’s question there — but how much of a lie is it for the Biden administration, Karine Jean-Pierre, everybody associated with this perspective, to be saying the reason why the border is a mess is because we inherited a mess?

GOV. ABBOTT: So, there are two lies that they are perpetuating. First, about what you’re talking about, the Biden administration inherited the most secure border than any president in decades, and it is because Trump put into place the Title 42 policy, the Remain in Mexico policy. They ended catch and release and he built the border wall, and maybe more prolifically, he just sent a message that if you’re going to try to come to United States, you better do so legally, not illegally. Bottom line is, Biden inherited an effective border security plan. All he had to do was to keep it in place. But talk about lies. You know, the spokesperson for Joe Biden, she gets up there on the podium and she says the border is secure. She says, “No one is walking across, just walking across the border.” She’s clueless about what actually is happening. So either they are lying about it or they don’t have a clue about it. Either way, it is deadly dangerous for our country.

BUCK: Speaking to Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. Governor, you know, we’ve been talking a lot about the move from high-tax, high-regulation, covid-lockdown blue states into red states like Florida, Tennessee and, of course, Texas. What has that been like in the last year or so for your state and what are you doing to entice even more people to change it up and go live in the great state of Texas?

GOV. ABBOTT: So, for one, Texas once again leads in all the different metrics — whether it be the U-Haul test or whatever the case may be — in ranking number one for the most people moving into our state. And we’re not doing anything per se to purposefully attract these people to come to our state. It’s just the nature of the policies that we have in place, such as no income tax, no corporate income tax, a very reasonable regulatory system, a government that moves at the speed of business — actually a government that embraces business, as opposed to try to leech off of business. And I’ll tell you another consequence of this — and that is, as reported this week — California, because of their policies, they have a $24 billion budget deficit. Texas, because of our policies, we have a $33 billion budget surplus, the largest budget surplus in the history of Texas, and I think the largest budget surplus of any state in the country.

CLAY: Governor Abbott, I know we’re talking about Texas related specifically, but you have a background. You’re a lawyer, fellow Vanderbilt law grad, by the way.

GOV. ABBOTT: There you go.

CLAY: Great, fantastic law school for anybody out there thinking about going. Both the governor and I are happy to be grads. You were a judge. You were an attorney general of Texas. I’m sure you’re familiar with the news that’s coming out. In fact, the attorney general is going to be speaking — of the United States — here soon, Merrick Garland. Do you think there needs to be a special counsel appointed based on Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents based on what you have seen in your legal background?

GOV. ABBOTT: Yes, and let me be clear about something that’s so incredibly important. We’re at a very tenuous moment in our country as it concerns the legal system and trust in government, because if we see come out of Merrick Garland a double standard — one applied to Donald Trump with regard to his documents, another applied to Joe Biden with regard to his documents — Americans will realize that there are two systems of law and law enforcement in this country, and they will not tolerate that. And so, it is essential that Merrick Garland do the right thing and apply the same standards to Joe Biden as he has applied to Donald Trump.

BUCK: Well, we’re going to find out here in just a few moments from the attorney general whether or not that’s actually the case here in this country. Governor Abbott, thanks so much for being with us.

GOV. ABBOTT: Always a pleasure. Thank you, guys. Take care.