Forget New York's Andrew Cuomo with his nursing home and sexual harassment scandals, according to CNN's Don Lemon and Matthew Dowd, Texas' Greg Abbott "is in a race to be the worst possible governor" with Florida's Ron DeSantis.
The charge against Abbott in particular came on Lemon's Friday show after he called for a second special session after Texas Democrats fled to avoid voting on a new election law. Lemon wondered, "Is this the best way to fight this? We talked about it a little bit, is there any more that can be done there?"
Dowd claimed that it is, because there is no other option. He then claimed it was Abbott and not the vacationing Democrats, who would "have to face the wrath of the voters in 2022."
Clearly not a fan of Abbott, Dowd claimed, "Greg Abbott is in a race to be the worst possible governor in the country. The only one he’s got competition with right now is with Governor DeSantis of Florida."
Not only is Abbott is allegedly restricting "voting rights," but he is also to be condemned for "preventing local jurisdictions and schools from requiring masks." Dowd also blamed Abbott for gun violence: "It’s all the things he did about access to guns, creating more access to guns at time where we lose 4,000 people a year to gun violence."
After claiming to be a proud Texan, Dowd declared that, "I cannot stand our leaders and Greg Abbott is the Dr. Evil of Texas government. Everything he does is cruel and craven."
Lemon then tried to make the case for DeSantis being the worse governor, condemning him for, "questioning Joe Biden's memory, after the president jokingly referred to DeSantis as Governor Who."
If it was a joke, it wasn't a very good one as the White House spent several days picking a fight with DeSantis. Still, Lemon wondered, "I mean this is only going to get worse, this feud between them, but there’s only one side here that’s putting lives at risk. Am I wrong about that?"
Naturally, Dowd agreed and condemned both DeSantis and Abbott for "the two of them, are trying to blame immigrants, they’re trying to blame immigrants for the spread of the coronavirus around the country."
It's not exactly a made-up problem and does represent a great contradiction in administration talking points, but Dowd nevertheless claimed, "And if you really looked at the data, more people have died and more people have been hospitalized because of the decisions of Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott during this crisis and pandemic than have come close to dying because of some immigrant spreading coronavirus."
"If you really looked at the data," you would find that Texas and Florida are 25th and 26th respectively in terms of COVID deaths per capita. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's scandalous placing of COVID patients in nursing homes is part of the reason why New York ranks second.
This segment was sponsored by Lincoln.
Here is a transcript for the August 6 show:
CNN
Don Lemon Tonight
10:51 PM ET
DON LEMON: All right. Matthew Dowd is back with me. Matthew, Texas Governor Greg Abbott calling for a new special session tomorrow to try to force a vote on restrictive voting bills. Democrats who fled the state last month to block it have to decide whether they'll stay out of Texas. Is this the best way to fight this? We talked about it a little bit, is there any more that can be done there?
MATTHEW DOWD: Well, at this moment, procedurally, it’s the only way to keep it from happening at this moment. I mean ultimately, I think that Greg Abbott’s going to have to face the wrath of the voters in 2022 and that will ultimately be the decision in this lengthy period of time to do it, but right now, the Texas Democrats, the only power they have to keep a quorum from happening. How long they can maintain it, is I think, dicey, I think they're going to keep pushing it.I mean, Greg Abbott is in a race to be the worst possible governor in the country. The only one he’s got competition with right now is with Governor DeSantis of Florida, I think. It’s not only voting rights decisions and putting restrictions up. It’s preventing local jurisdictions and schools from requiring masks. It’s all the things he did about access to guns, creating more access to guns at time where we lose 4,000 people a year to gun violence. I've lived in Texas for 35 years, I’ve raised four children here, I’ve buried two children in Texas. It's a state I love and I love the people. I cannot stand our leaders and Greg Abbott is the Dr. Evil of Texas government. Everything he does is cruel and craven.
LEMON: You mentioned Ron DeSantis in Florida, today questioning Joe Biden's memory, after the president jokingly referred to DeSantis as Governor Who. It's only going to get worse, this feud between them, but there’s only one side here that’s putting lives at risk. Am I wrong about that?DOWD: No, not at all, and just the awful thing is that, Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott, the two of them, are trying to blame immigrants, they’re trying to blame immigrants for the spread of the coronavirus around the country. And if you really looked at the data, more people have died and more people have been hospitalized because of the decisions of Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott during this crisis and pandemic than have even come close to dying because of some immigrant spreading coronavirus. And so, it’s awful, it’s horrible, but in the end, Don, we can everything we can, we can speak truth, which we should keep doing and keep having this conversation, but it's up to us and the rest of the voters to tell the politicians we are not going to stand for this anymore.
