Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced in a social media post on Sunday that he is “proud to endorse” former President Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination.
“Today, I am proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President,” Abbott said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Now more than ever, America needs a President who will secure the border and prioritize national security. President Trump is the clear choice to get the job done.”
The former president joined the governor in Edinburg, Texas on Sunday for Abbott’s annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition of serving tamales to Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guardsmen deployed along the southern border under the governor’s Operation Lone Star program.
The visit is intended to spotlight the combustible issue of illegal immigration and border security.
The border has been a major issue for Republican voters and GOP leaders and politicians for two and a half years, leading to harsh criticism of President Biden’s administration’s handling of the crisis and a surge in border crossings by migrants.
Trump pledged to launch the largest mass deportation effort in American history if he is re-elected and would reinstate travel bans and his 2019 “Remain in Mexico” program, which forced non-Mexican asylum seekers aiming to enter the U.S. at the southern border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their cases.
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In 2021, Trump endorsed Abbott as the conservative governor who was seeking re-election and faced multiple primary challenges from the right.
He overwhelmingly won the renomination in March 2022 before defeating his Democratic challenger, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke last November to secure a third term as governor.
Abbott was grateful for Trump’s early endorsement last cycle, according to those in the governor’s political orbit, and he’s now apparently returning the favor.
Trump is making his third straight White House run and is currently the commanding front-runner for the Republican 2024 nomination, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley currently vying for a distant second place in the polls.
Trump’s lead expanded over the spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump’s four indictments – including in federal court in Washington D.C. and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss – have fueled his support among Republican voters.
Paul Steinhauser of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
