There’s a new MAGA in town, but it definitely does not support Donald Trump — or Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.
It’s Mothers Against Greg Abbott, and it’s already working to turn out votes for Abbott opponent Beto O’Rourke in the November election.
The Texas Tribune calls the Political Action Committee a “potent force” with some 50,000 members on Facebook, $400,000 in donations, and hard-hitting viral social media ads.
It was launched almost a year ago on an extremely small scale by Austin mom Nancy Thompson. She was initially incensed by Abbott’s ban on COVID mask mandates, which put her medically vulnerable son at risk.
“Honestly, I just didn’t give a shit anymore,” Thompson told the Tribune about the time she spent hours, alone, holding a sign in front of the state Capitol reading: “Mothers Against Greg Abbott.”
“I was just done. I was so done,” Thompson said.
Thompson is a former Republican. But she wants her MAGA to be “a mix of Democrats, moderate Republicans and independents who are ready to work together for change for Texas,” she told the Tribune.
“We’re just trying to organize the army and make it super accessible to everyday Texans like me, who may not be super involved in politics — until you’re super involved in politics,” Thompson explained.
The new MAGA is another sign of the growing election influence of women-led political interest groups. The pro-choice Kansans for Constitutional Freedom pulled off a huge surprise win for abortion rights in that state early this month when voters rejected a referendum that would have removed abortion protections from the state constitution
Abortion rights in Texas, where abortion is banned after about six weeks — before many women even know they’re pregnant — also are critical to the new MAGA.
It’s grassroots organizations like these that are important and need our support. Meanwhile, Abbott is more focused on being an Alt-Right troll and trying to “own the Libs”:
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is firing back at New York City Mayor Eric Adams after he threatened to send bus loads of New Yorkers to Texas to campaign against Abbott's re-election bid.
"I kind of feel like Clint Eastwood. Go ahead, Mayor. Make my day," Abbott publicly declared Wednesday.
The dueling politicians have gone back and forth since the Lone Star State began busing migrants from the Texas-Mexico border to the Big Apple on Aug. 5.
Since late last week, at least 160 migrants have stepped off buses in New York City, Shaina Coronel, a spokesperson for Manuel Castro, the Commissioner for the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs told USA TODAY Thursday.
Abbott’s comments came after Adams’ said he was considering taking a busload of New Yorkers to Texas "and do some good, old-fashioned door-knocking” against the Texas governor.
We really need to help Beto O’Rourke (D. TX) take down this mother fucker, just like he went after this mouther fucker:
Beto O’Rourke on Wednesday railed against Texans’ easy access to AR-style rifles like the one used in May to massacre 19 students and two of their teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex.
The 18-year-old gunman had legally purchased his rifle, which was “originally designed for use on the battlefields in Vietnam to penetrate an enemy soldier’s helmet at 500 feet and knock him down dead,” O’Rourke told supporters during a campaign rally, imitating a warfighter by dropping to one knee and extending his arm as if lining up a shot.
A heckler cackled.
O’Rourke, the Democratic nominee running to oust Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in November, initially ignored the laughter. He kept stumping, saying that the Uvalde shooter had used the rifle not to fight enemy soldiers off in the distance but “against kids” five feet away.
But then he stopped and pointed at the heckler: “It may be funny to you,” O’Rourke thundered, interjecting a swear word, “but it’s not funny to me.”
One video of the exchange went viral, racking up more than 3 million views by early Thursday, just hours after O’Rourke wrapped up the campaign stop in Mineral Wells — a town some 40 miles west of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and 260 miles north of Uvalde. O’Rourke’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request from The Washington Post late Wednesday for comment about the exchange.
Shortly after the event, O’Rourke tweeted that he considers nothing more serious “than getting justice for the families in Uvalde and stopping this from ever happening again.”
Health and Democracy are on the ballot and we need to get ready to turn Texas Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Beto and his fellow Texas Democrats campaigns:
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