EXCLUSIVE: Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called out the “hypocrisy” of the Democratic Party advocating for states’ rights in Minnesota after he was widely lambasted, and even sued, for his efforts to enforce the border during the Biden administration.

Abbott remarked that “hypocrisy is the word choice that really applies to them, because, suddenly, these Minnesota states, they want to insist on states’ rights,” during an interview with Fox News Digital.

In 2021, Abbott launched “Operation Lone Star,” which deployed state troopers and the Texas National Guard to the border and funded barrier construction to deter illegal crossings. He was sued by the administration that same year. Abbott said that Texas’ struggle with the Biden administration is fundamentally different from the controversy in Minnesota and other sanctuary states.

“Texas insisted on states’ rights, but actually, what we were doing in Texas during the Biden administration, we were very simply trying to enforce the federal immigration laws that Joe Biden was refusing to enforce,” he explained. “What we see in Minnesota, however, is total chaos, total anarchy, because what they are doing is not trying to enforce the law; they’re trying to interfere with the enforcement of the law.”

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“My job as governor was to make sure we used every tool to secure the border, and it worked,” he explained. “Joe Biden required Texas to take matters into our own hands because of the lack of safety that he instilled in the country. Look at the millions of people who’ve crossed the border illegally. Look at the criminals, the rapists and murderers who came into Houston, Texas, that Joe Biden allowed in.”

“We are a nation that was built upon the rule of law, and the rule of law has to be enforced. When it is enforced, it leads to safer communities,” he added.

The result, according to Abbott, was an over 85% decrease in illegal immigration in the state and a simultaneous over 40 percent decrease in fentanyl deaths.

Now, Abbott is running for re-election on a platform that he says will double down on making Texas a top destination for people seeking not only economic opportunity, but also “the opportunity of freedom to live their own life.”

One of the core issues Abbott is running on is a plan to slash property taxes in Texas during the next legislative session. Abbott has proposed a five-step overhaul of the Texas property tax system that includes limiting local government spending growth to population growth or inflation, requiring two-thirds voter approval for local property tax increases, allowing voters to trigger rollback elections with a 15% petition threshold, capping homestead appraisal growth at 3% and expanding that cap to all properties, requiring appraisals only once every five years, and pursuing a constitutional amendment to let voters eliminate school district property taxes for homeowners.

While many Democrats, such as U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, have predicted the Lone Star State is on the edge of turning blue, Abbott believes the GOP is well-positioned to win come November.

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“As long as Republicans remain engaged, as long as we’re able to get out our vote, we’re going to win these elections and win them with ease, but also, very importantly, when we show the contrast between Republicans and Democrats,” he said. “We just had a forum here talking about cutting property taxes. Democrats are against cutting property taxes in Texas, Democrats are in favor of defunding the police, whereas Republicans believe in law and order and law enforcement. Democrats stood for these crazy open border policies, where Republicans fight to close the border, enforce immigration laws, and don’t let people in illegally.”

Abbott shared that he intends to go on the offensive this election, even challenging Democrats in areas that have long been written off as blue strongholds, such as Harris County, in which the city of Houston sits.

“I take every election seriously. I take nothing for granted,” he said. “We constantly battle against the Democrats in this state that believe in defunding the police. We fought a battle and won one here in Houston, Texas, where we had socialist judges letting murderers out of jail on low bond, only to go back out and murder somebody else. We passed laws cracking down on that here in Texas.”

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“Texas is the state that’s most on fire in the entire United States of America,” Abbott went on. “I [have] met people who moved from New York and other states because they wanted to get out of the chaos and communism in those states and come to a state that truly believes in capitalism, but also opportunity of all sorts.”

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“So, what our goal is to make sure we continue to pass policies that keep Texas attractive,” he concluded. “It’s a constant battle against the socialists, whether they’re in Minneapolis or Houston, Texas, or Austin, Texas, but righteousness and the rule of law will always prevail.”