Gavin Newsom has some choice words for Greg Abbott after Texas National Guard troops were spotted in another Democrat-run city.
Abbott, who recently authorized President Donald Trump to deploy 400 Texas National Guard troops to Illinois, appeared on Fox News on Friday to accuse Newsom and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker of “interfering with the president’s ability to execute laws” for opposing the troops’ presence in their states.
Responding to a clip of Abbott’s rant, Newsom shared a screenshot of the Texas governor’s 2024 press release, titled “Governor Abbott Condemns President Biden’s National Guard Power Grab.” Alongside the image, Newsom wrote, “This you?”
Abbott issued the press release in question in May 2024, as part of a united effort from all 50 governors to oppose a proposed policy from then-President Joe Biden that would give the Air Force power to reassign National Guard troops, whose assignments are typically dictated by each state.
At the time, Abbott wrote an open letter to President Biden in which he said that federalizing the National Guard was a “power grab” that would “sideline governors” and pose an “intolerable threat” to the Texas National Guard.
The Texas governor’s sudden change of heart comes after President Trump called on him to help his latest effort to send National Guard troops into a Democrat-run state.
After Texas National Guard troops were spotted training at an Army Reserve facility outside Chicago over the weekend, Abbott confirmed that he had “fully authorized” the move, claiming it was “to ensure safety for federal officials.” Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Appearing on The Rachel Maddow Show on Wednesday, Pritzker also pointed out Abbott’s former opposition to federalizing the National Guard, calling the Texas governor a “tool of Donald Trump.”
Newsom, whose state was the first target of Trump’s National Guard deployment, called the move to send troops into Chicago a “constitutional crisis” in a Friday episode of his podcast, This Is Gavin Newsom. Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Including Chicago, the president has now deployed National Guard troops to four major cities, all of which have Democrat-majority local governments, and three of which are in states with Democratic governors.
After sending nearly 5,000 troops into Los Angeles to stifle anti-ICE protests in June, Trump then directed 2,450 troops to address what he called a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C. in August.
In late September, the president announced on Truth Social that he had directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to send troops into Portland, Oregon, which he called a “War ravaged” city where ICE facilities were “under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”
Trump has also discussed sending troops into the Democrat-run cities of New York, San Francisco, St. Louis, New Orleans, Oakland, and Baltimore.
National Guard troops also began patrolling Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday morning. However, their presence in the city was backed by the state’s Republican governor, Bill Lee who said he “welcomes the assistance” in fighting crime.
