Convenience Big Store: Greg Abbott calls Biden border lawsuits 'traitorship'

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Mounting border legal battles

Gov. Greg Abbott didn't quite call Joe Biden a traitor.

But he's getting close.

During a campaign rally on Friday in Deer Park to help State Rep. Briscoe Cain's re-election, Abbott listed out all of the legal fights he is having with the Biden administration over securing the border.

That includes the Biden administration suing Texas over a new deportation law, which is set to take effect in March. Earlier, the Biden administration sued over the floating buoy barrier Abbott placed in the Rio Grande without federal approval. Meanwhile, Abbott has sued the Biden administration for cutting razor wire along the border that Texas deployed to stop migrants from entering the U.S.

He told a crowd of more than 200 people that it is crazy that Biden is suing him for trying to protect the United States.

"It seems like it's traitorship," Abbott said.

This comes days after Abbott said he has done everything he can to stop illegal immigration short of shooting migrants because the Biden administration would "charge us with murder."

Jeremy Wallace, Texas politics reporter

jeremy.wallace@houstonchronicle.com

Who's up, who's down

Up: Briscoe Cain.

The Deer Part State Representative is facing a primary challenge this year, but Abbott's appearance and endorsement were unequivocal on Friday. While endorsements aren't always important, Cain said Abbott's approval numbers and name identification are unmatched in Texas and will surely help his re-election. "I need Briscoe Cain back with me in the Texas House of Representatives," Abbott said.

Down: Temperatures.

With below-freezing temperatures blanketing the state in the next few days, the Texas electricity grid gets yet another big test. ERCOT, the state's grid monitor, has issued an official Weather Watch, acknowledging the expected high demand, but also saying they expect the grid conditions to remain normal.

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What else is going on in Texas

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Pick of the day

Jeremy Wallace and Scott Braddock talk all things Texas politics on the Texas Take podcast, released every Friday.

Photo by: Nadya Hassan

We are back with another fresh edition of the Texas Take Podcast. Scott Braddock of Quorumreport.com and I have the audio of Gov. Greg Abbott's comments about shooting migrants, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy's frustrations with House Speaker Mike Johnson and what U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz had to say about former President Donald Trump being kicked off the ballot in Colorado and Maine.

What else I'm reading

Good news for Texas military bases as Congress looks to avoid a government shutdown later this month that could have stopped paychecks to soldiers. The Hill reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson said he is sticking by a top-line spending deal that he struck with congressional Democrats and the White House this month amid calls from hard-line conservatives to scrap the plan and come up with an alternative.