Abbott says Texas provides more hours to vote than Delaware after Biden criticism

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) shot back at President Biden after the president criticized a GOP-lead measure on voter access in the state.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Biden criticized the Senate bill without even having ever read it,” Abbott told The Dallas Morning News this week. “I bet he doesn’t have a clue what’s in there.”

“The voter law in the state of Texas is far more accommodative and provides far more hours to vote than it does in President Biden’s home state of Delaware, where he voted in the last election, where they offer exactly zero early voting days,” Abbott added. “If there’s any voter suppression taking place, the easier allegation is say that voter suppression has taken place in Delaware, not Texas.”

Biden over the weekend slammed the Republican measure, which would restrict voting hours in Texas, calling it “un-American.” 

“Today, Texas legislators put forth a bill that joins Georgia and Florida in advancing a state law that attacks the sacred right to vote. It’s part of an assault on democracy that we’ve seen far too often this year — and often disproportionately targeting Black and Brown Americans,” Biden said. “It’s wrong and un-American. In the 21st century, we should be making it easier, not harder, for every eligible voter to vote.” 

Abbott, who has been endorsed by former President Trump as he seeks reelection, has sparred with the White House on several occasions since Biden took office. 

After Abbott was among the first governors in the country to rescind statewide face mask mandates, Biden called the move “Neanderthal thinking.” 

“The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it,” he said at the time of Abbott’s policy and a similar move by the governor in Mississippi. “It still matters.”

“This is, of course, the same person who reacted swiftly, calling me a Neanderthal for opening things up, and he proved to be 100 percent wrong about that,” Abbott said this week. “He’s going to be proven to be 100 percent wrong about this.”

Democrats in the Texas statehouse staged a walk-out overnight Saturday in protest of the GOP-led elections bill.

“This bill does away with that 24-hour voting,” said Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat and Harris County judge. “Drive-through voting, in particular, is disproportionately used by voters of color, so it’s very transparent what their motivation is.”

Biden has slammed similar voting measures proposed and passed by Republicans in other states, calling a measure in Georgia that curbs access to the poll “Jim Crow in the 21st Century.” 

–Updated at 12:20 p.m.