On Saturday in Montgomery County, former President Donald Trump’s Save America rally included several Texas speakers, such as incumbent Gov. Abbott, who had received the Trump endorsement last year. However, while some cheered when Abbott took the stage, there was also some audible booing from sections of the crowd.
Greg Abbott getting booed when introduced at the Trump rally last night. pic.twitter.com/TWvjkMyJTh
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) January 30, 2022
Montgomery County is a GOP stronghold in Texas, but their local displeasure with Abbott is well known, following their formal censure of Abbott in the summer of 2020 for his executive orders that shut down businesses, mandated masks, and brought contact tracing to Texas in response to the coronavirus.
As several commenters on Twitter have noted, Abbott quickly adjusted to the crowd’s mixed response and began mentioning Trump’s name repeatedly in order to silence his critics.
After being booed at the trump rally, Abbott chants, "let's go Trump." Oof! Eating crow is hard. https://t.co/6KWyXm1Ibh
— Joel Montfort (@jmontforttx) January 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/JustTheTweets17/status/1487802563063951362
Texas Scorecard reached out to each of Abbott’s primary challengers—former State Sen. Don Huffines, media personality Chad Prather, and former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West—for comment.
“Grassroots Texans are smart,” Huffines said. “They know a failed leader when they see one. They know Greg Abbott has had seven years to secure our border, and it’s worse than it’s ever been. They know property taxes are higher than ever. They don’t have confidence in their elections. Texans are hungry for courageous leadership. That’s why I’m running, and that’s why I’m going to win.”
Chad Prather and Allen West did not respond to Texas Scorecard for comment before publication.
Election Day for the Republican primary is March 1. Early voting begins on February 14.
