O’Rourke accuses Abbott of ‘spiking inflation,’ ‘killing businesses’ with now-repealed truck inspection policy
With national inflation at 8.5%, O'Rourke dubs Abbott the 'inflation governor'
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Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke on Sunday accused Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of "spiking inflation" and "killing businesses" in the state with a truck inspection policy the governor repealed two days earlier after striking a deal with Mexican officials.
Earlier this month, Abbott ordered that commercial trucks from Mexico undergo secondary inspections as part of a fight with the Biden administration over the border crisis. The governor lifted his immigration order Friday after reaching agreements with neighboring Mexican states that he said pledged new commitments to border security.
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Beto O'Rourke speaks onstage at "Beto O'Rourke in Conversation with Evan Smith" during the 2022 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Hilton Austin March 12, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (Chris Saucedo/Getty Images for SXSW / Getty Images)
Amid record inflation nationwide hitting 8.5%, Democrats have seized on Abbott’s order, which clogged traffic for days, as a contributor to the national supply chain issues and inflation crisis. Appearing on MSNBC’s "The Sunday Show," O’Rourke made no mention of Abbott lifting the order two days earlier and said the governor’s policies are "ensuring higher prices for Texas consumers."
"He just shut down almost all commercial traffic coming into the United States, which is spiking inflation, killing businesses, especially along the border and ensuring higher prices for Texas consumers and more supply shortages for those who want to buy groceries, for example, in the supermarket this weekend," O’Rourke said. "He's really hurting this state and providing no additional benefit for security or safety. That's why so many people in Texas want a change."
Beto O'Rourke, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Texas, speaks during a primary election night event in Fort Worth, Texas, March 1, 2022. (Matthew Busch/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
O’Rourke also slammed Abbott for bussing migrants to Washington, D.C., and accused the governor of endangering his state’s National Guardsmen by deploying them to the border.
"This is another political stunt that Greg Abbott has pulled off that has done nothing to improve the safety and security of Texas or the rest of the country for that matter," O’Rourke said. "It's of a piece with his activation of 10,000 members of the National Guard whom he deployed to the Texas-Mexico border, where they have no powers to arrest or detain, but four of those Guardsmen have taken their own lives since they've been activated. They've been taken away from their families, from their communities, from their kids."
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Despite Abbott lifting the order, O’Rourke is labeling him the "inflation governor" who is "tanking" his state’s economy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.