Abbott blasts Harris as California liberal extremist

(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blasted Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee saying she is a California liberal and extremist.

Harris was officially nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night.

While attacking her opponent, former President Donald Trump, and Republicans who support him throughout her speech, she said she would unify all Americans if elected president.

"With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward, not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans," she said.

In response, Abbott criticized her nomination after battling the Biden-Harris administration for nearly four years on a range of issues from the border to energy policies.

“The Democratic Party just anointed a handpicked California Liberal, ​undermining the will of American voters,” he said of the former U.S. senator and attorney general from California. Abbott has previously criticized Democratic “elites” for choosing Harris to replace President Joe Biden instead of Democratic voters selecting her through the primary process.

“Four years ago, Kamala Harris couldn't get a single delegate because voters recognized she would be a disaster for our country if she was elected to the White House, and that's exactly what we've experienced for the past four years,” Abbott said.

In July, Biden succumbed to pressure from top elected Democrats and donors and dropped out of the presidential race after a disastrous presidential debate performance in late June. Multiple members of Congress, including from Texas, called on Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, also arguing neither are fit to be president. Other House Republicans introduced articles of impeachment against her and filed resolutions condemning her as border czar.

Abbott has also called on Biden to resign, arguing if he isn’t fit to run for reelection, he isn’t fit to remain in office. He’s also called out Harris as border czar for overseeing the worst border crisis in history. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, isn’t much better, he’s argued, describing him as a “border crisis denier.” Only recently did Walz admit Abbott “has a point on the border.”

“The Biden-Harris Administration has unleashed chaos on our border through their dangerous open border policies, resulting in an unprecedented illegal immigration crisis,” Abbott said. “Under Border Czar Harris, over 11 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border into our country, including dangerous criminals, gang members, and even known terrorists. To make matters worse, Harris supports taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants and the complete abolishment of ICE.”

Abbott also identified other “radical policies” that “endanger the lives of all Americans.”

While Texas supports law enforcement, Harris “supports defunding the police, giving convicted criminals the right to vote, and even helped raise money to bail dangerous criminals out of jail and put them back on our streets,” he said.

While Texas supports the oil and natural gas industry and energy freedom, he said, “like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris is a climate extremist who wants to eliminate fossil fuels, ban fracking, and destroy American energy independence – putting hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women in the energy industry and our national security at risk.”

Abbott, who has endorsed Donald Trump for president, said Harris won’t win in November.

“Four years ago, Americans rejected Kamala Harris and her leftist open border, anti-energy, soft-on-crime agenda, and they will reject her radical policies once again come November,” he said.

Abbott has also identified policies Walz enacted as governor that “endangered the lives of those he was elected to protect.”

In addition to “rubberstamping Harris' deadly open border policies,” he said, “like Harris, Walz endorsed defunding the police. … Under his watch, vehicle theft, aggravated assault, and … murder rates [went] up in Minnesota. And while Minneapolis was burning as riots overtook the city in 2020, Walz refused to call in the National Guard for three days.

“Walz is also a climate radical who wants to destroy American energy independence and completely eliminate fossil fuels, killing hundreds of thousands of good-paying oil and gas jobs in Texas and across the country,” he said.