Trump says Texas Governor Greg Abbott is ‘definitely’ on his VP shortlist after border trip: Ex-president adds another name to shortlist, praises favorite Tim Scott
Donald Trump has revealed that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is “definitely” on his short list of potential running mates following their trip to the border on Thursday.
The Republican presidential nominee’s list of possible vice presidents is growing – with Sens. Tim Scott, Ben Carson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Rep. Elise Stefanik in the frame.
Others are said to be in the picture after Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Representative Byron Donalds and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary turned governor of Arkansas.
But the former president, 77, added a new name to the list overnight as he heads full speed toward a general election rematch with President Joe Biden in November.
“Absolutely, he is,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity of Abbott in an interview with him near Eagle Pass.
Trump then praised Scott, considering him one of the favorites and would not reveal whether there were any other candidates under consideration.
Donald Trump has revealed that Texas Governor Greg Abbott is ‘definitely’ on his short list of potential running mates following their trip to the border on Thursday
‘Tim, he was fine on his own. He did well. I mean, he was okay as a candidate, but he didn’t want to talk about himself. He’s a very good man,” Trump said. “For me he is incredible. He’s a surrogate
Earlier on Thursday, Abbott showed off his VP credentials by criticizing Joe Biden for “endangering America” by ‘not doing his job’ at the border.
Abbott led Trump along the edge of the Rio Grande and showed him what Texas is doing to prevent the crossing of illegal immigrants.
The Republican governor showed Trump how shipping containers topped with concertina wire are used as barriers.
And he took him to a place where the body of a drowned illegal migrant was brought ashore earlier this week.
Abbott also laid out plans to build an 80-acre base for the Texas National Guard.
He also vowed to continue his policy of busing illegal migrants to Democratic “sanctuary” cities.
It came as Biden visited the border town of Brownsville, Texas, about 524 miles from where Abbot appeared with Trump but still in his state.
Abbott said: ‘The United States of America is being invaded. Joe Biden is not doing his job.
“I don’t think he (Biden) is at the border itself right now. He is at a remediated site in the Brownsville area and does not see the barbed wire that Texas has built around Brownsville.”
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, points to Texas Governor Greg Abbott as he speaks in Shelby Park during a visit to the US-Mexico border, Thursday, February 29, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas
A caravan wades past a series of buoys, built to deter migrants crossing the Rio Grande River, as they search for an opening in the concertina wire to enter Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S., July 27, 2023
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, talks with Texas Governor Greg Abbott at Shelby Park during a visit to the US-Mexico border, Thursday, February 29, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on immigration and border security in Brownsville, Texas, on February 29, 2024. The president visited the border near Brownsville on the same day as former President Donald Trump’s dueling trip to neighboring Eagle Pass, Texas
Members of the U.S. National Guard stand guard at shipping containers used as a border fence in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S., February 27, 202
The governor added, “And he announced he was going to Brownsville after it was already known that President Trump was coming to the state of Texas.
“It just shows that Biden doesn’t care about Texas or the border and what’s going on. That’s why you see a disaster.’
Abbott said America is facing “more deadly consequences than we have had in our entire lifetimes because of Joe Biden’s policies at the border” and “that it didn’t have to be this way.”
“All Joe Biden had to do to secure the border was keep in place what President Trump put in place in the first place,” he said.
Visit of former US President Donald Trump to the town of Eagle Pass, near the Texas-Mexico border: his supporters gathered in the region on Thursday, February 29
Locals gather near the site of Donald Trump’s visit to the border with Greg Abbott in Eagle Pass, Texas
He said there were already three laws on the books that Biden would have to enforce.
The first requires the Biden administration to deny illegal entry into the United States “as Texas does here.”
He added; “President Biden aids and abets illegal entry.”
The second law requires the government to detain anyone who comes here illegally, he said.
“But it doesn’t hold them. He’s releasing them all over the country,” Abbott said.
Migrants wait to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande and entering the U.S. from Mexico, on Oct. 19, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, visits the boat ramp at Shelby Park during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. On the right is Texas Governor Greg Abbot
S-President Joe Biden (C) speaks as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas (CL), Texas Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr (CR) and others listen at the U.S. Border Patrol station in Brownsville, Texas
He said a third law would require the Biden administration to erect border barriers.
But he said Biden is using “any means necessary to tear down the borders” Texas imposes.
Abbott said, “Not a week goes by without an American losing their life, being raped or assaulted by someone Biden illegally allowed into our country.”
Texas is “ground zero” for illegal border crossings and Biden had “lied to America” about the border, he said.
Abbott and Trump spoke in Shelby Park, a 47-acre grassy area near the river.
There were thousands of daily crossings for illegal immigrants before Abbott ordered the military to take over the crossing in January.
Since then, the number of migrants crossing the border has dropped to “six or seven” a day, he said.