In a July 4th opinion piece from the editors of the Austin-Statesmen, the Republican governor of Texas was scorched over his plans to find funding to complete the construction of Donald Trump's border wall.
Under a headline the read: "We've seen this border wall show before. Please spare us the rerun," the editors got right to the point, explaining, "Donald Trump's visit to the border this week had a distressingly familiar ring to it. The ex-president made the same baseless claims that other countries are sending their murderers and drug dealers to America."
Noting that Trump once again lauded his wall -- while pointedly mentioning that Mexico is still not going to pay for it -- the editorial took Gov. Greg Abbott to task for trying to fulfill the ex-president's dream.
"How much would it cost? No one can say. The Texas border wall project manager that Abbott plans to hire is supposed to figure out costs and logistics, even as the governor is pledging action and tweeting video of land-clearing for a wall," they wrote. "And we know that after spending $2.8 billion to replace existing barriers and build new ones in Texas, the Trump administration produced just 55 miles of new wall. Federal lawmakers said some portions of the Texas wall cost $26.5 million per mile. Abbott envisions 'hundreds of miles' of new border wall. You do the math."
Noting an Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security report that cast doubt on Trump's wall, the editors got to the point.
"Trump's original campaign pledge to 'build that wall' excited his core Republican voters, and Abbott is hoping to ride a similar wave of enthusiasm through next year's gubernatorial campaign and perhaps a future White House bid. But we've seen this show before. Texas doesn't need more miles of border wall. Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for this charade. All of us should be spared this rerun," they concluded.
You can read the whole piece here.