Abbott fires back at NYC Mayor Adams' 'madman' slam: He'd never make it in Texas

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Gov. Greg Abbott fires back at Eric Adams: 'Couldn't last a week in Texas'

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, responds to Mayor Eric Adams calling him a 'madman' for bussing migrants to New York on 'Jesse Watters Primetime.'

Gov. Greg Abbott cited one of the New York City area's most famous crooners to ding the Big Apple's mayor after Eric Adams complained about the city's illegal immigrant overflow and referred to the Texas Republican as a "madman."

Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" has long defined the City That Never Sleeps, but its most famous boast may not entirely befit the current mayor, Abbott told "Jesse Watters Primetime" Monday.

When asked if he is indeed a "madman," Abbott fired back that Adams instead is the "outrageous" one.

"When I first heard that, I thought about Frank Sinatra singing ‘New York, New York’ when he sang ‘If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere.' Well, [Adams] may have made it to be mayor of New York, but he could not last a week in Texas," he said.

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Abbott said Adams' complaints about several thousand migrants flooding all five boroughs – in part because of buses from the Lone Star State arriving regularly at Port Authority – the influx is dwarfed by the deluge Texas is dealing with thanks to President Biden's open border policies.

He added that officials in blue states and cities are being exposed as hypocritical as they deal with the repercussions of their progressive politics.

"[It] is just outrageous he would make a comment like that... What's maddening is the fact that in New York and Chicago and D.C. and L.A. and other places, they put out policies proclaiming that they're sanctuary cities, and they love to promote these liberal ideologies until they have to actually live up and apply them as clear that the policies of sanctuary cities," Abbott said. "And letting everybody live for free simply [does] not work."

Abbott also reflected on a 2013 prediction from then-San Antonio Democratic Mayor Julian Castro, who had appeared with his twin brother, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, on CBS News at the time.

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Former Mayor Castro predicted that Texas had been in transition from a solidly red state to one that will soon be a swing state and ultimately a blue state.

Host Jesse Watters noted that former President Ronald Reagan won there by double digits, but former President Trump squeaked by with about a 5-point margin over Biden in 2020.

"In a couple of presidential cycles. You'll be on election night, you'll be announcing that we're calling the 38 electoral votes of Texas for the Democratic nominee for president," Castro boasted at the time.

Watters said that may be early proof of the Democrats' intent to turn Texas blue, citing Biden's recent reported proposal to utilize ankle monitors to keep illegal immigrants and migrants from leaving Texas.

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Frank Sinatra on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, 1964 (CBS via Getty)

Abbott appeared to dismiss the notion, saying the prospect of turning Texas blue has been a goal on the left ever since he defeated Democrat Wendy Davis in 2014.

"Today, there are more Hispanics in Texas than there are Anglos – and yet I beat [former Rep.] Beto [O'Rourke] by double digits," he said.

"The Hispanics in Texas, they don't agree with this leftist woke agenda and progressive ideas pushed by people like the Castros. They firmly reject that. In fact, Hispanics in Texas do not like Biden's open border policies," he claimed.

He said Biden's plans and policies will backfire as Texans become more fed up with open border policies of Democrats.

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