Texas’ Abbott uses televised address to target border, crime

By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott offered no hints about whether he might run for president in a rare primetime address. But he sounded like a practiced campaigner while calling immigration crackdowns, tougher criminal penalties and a humming economy a model for the rest of the U.S. Thursday night’s televised speech drew applause from inside a Texas factory that Abbott chose as the backdrop to lay out his third term agenda, but some audiences elsewhere were not as enthusiastic. He made no mention during the half-hour address of last year’s Uvalde school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers. The speech was immediately followed on Texas airwaves by parents of slain Robb Elementary students criticizing him for not supporting tougher gun laws.