Texans have been through a lot this year (and it ain’t over yet) with the whole power catastrophe, and Sen. Ted Cruz fleeing to sunny Cancun, and house prices going through the roof. Marc Maron recently took a swing at Joe Rogan and the “human centipede in Austin” (with the other half being Elon Musk), and that doesn’t even touch the very serious issue of the Delta variant taking hold of Texas and Florida as frontrunners in new daily infections. Governor Greg Abbott even tested positive for COVID-19 this week, and he was subsequently whisked away to get Regeneron and other treatments that aren’t necessarily available to the public at large.
To put it bluntly, not everyone is happy with Abbott or the idea of his reelection, but Ted stepped up to endorse his old pal. Then Abbott tweeted about feeling “[p]roud to have my friend @TedCruz behind me.” He added, “We’ve fought for conservative principles for two decades, and we’ll continue working side by side to keep Texas the BEST state in the country.”
Proud to have my friend @TedCruz behind me.
We’ve fought for conservative principles for two decades, and we’ll continue working side by side to keep Texas the BEST state in the country. pic.twitter.com/xL76KryEFQ
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 19, 2021
Welllll, how does Cruz feel about this? He’s into it, but bizarrely mentioned that he’s acting out of loyalty because Abbot supported his initial bid for Senate, and they’ve worked together for so long. In this cringeworthy video that was filmed at a Tea Party meeting (called the True Texas Project), Cruz declared, “Listen, I understand there are a lot of folks here who have concerns about some of the things Greg Abbott’s done.” He then added, “But I gotta say, as for me, I’m going to vote for Greg Abbott, and to be honest, I think I’d be a disloyal jackass if I didn’t vote for him, given two decades of our working side-by-side.”
Senator @tedcruz with a very strong endorsement of @GregAbbott_TX at the @TrueTXProject meeting tonight. Cruz stressed the two decades they’ve worked hand in hand to fight for conservative values. pic.twitter.com/IOaXbjqn1n
— Texas Republican Initiative (@TxRepInitiative) August 19, 2021
As you can hear in the video (and this was pointed out by the Houston Chronicle), Cruz got booed. This wasn’t really a “strong” endorsement (as the above Twitter account claimed. It was rather “tepid,” and that’s worth pointing out.
Ted Cruz getting booed after a really tepid endorsement of Abbott is funny as hell https://t.co/hJqyyX3qwV
— Slurricane (Back to school mode) (@SlurricaneH) August 19, 2021
Wow if that’s what you call a strong endorsement I’d hate to see a weak one.
— ole granny (@BarbaraVanlaan) August 19, 2021
From there, True Texas Project CEO Julie McCarty took the stage while wearing a shirt for former Texas state Sen. Don Huffines, who’s running against Abbott in the primary. In other words, let the games begin.
True Texas Project leader Julie McCarty was not pleased with Sen. Cruz’s endorsement of Gov. Abbott. pic.twitter.com/iNNwdaS2YT
— Texas Republican Initiative (@TxRepInitiative) August 19, 2021