FALSE PROPHET
Greg Abbott
Governor, Texas
Third-term Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a devout Catholic, is an ardent supporter of ex-President Donald Trump, agreeing with a nun that a Trump victory would be a “complete act of God” and perpetuating the high-stakes good vs. evil election rhetoric popular among Christian nationalists and MAGA supporters. Following the 2024 attempted assassination of Trump, Abbott joined the chorus of Republicans characterizing the former president’s survival as a divine intervention.
Abbott has promoted and signed a huge number of far-right bills into law, including ones that restrict reproductive rights, immigration, gun reform, and LGTBQ+ rights. He is known especially for his cruelty towards trans children and their families and for bussing asylum seekers and migrant families out of the state in a political stunt that the Archbishop of San Antonio says promotes human trafficking. After sending migrants to predominantly Democratic-led cities in the north during the winter, Abbott doubled down on his anti-immigrant cruelty at the 2024 Republican National Convention, promising to send more migrants out of state – a stunt that has cost Texans at least $148 million over the past two years.
Abbott’s Christian Nationalist Rhetoric
Frequently cites Scripture as underpinning his policies: "The Bible speaks of the role of government, which is among other things focused on protecting the safety and security of its people."
Said that in order to reduce crime, "We need to restore God in our communities.”
Offered “thoughts and prayers” after six different Texas mass shootings, but no action on guns
After Uvalde, Abbott cast the tragedy in Biblical terms, stating: “Evil swept across Uvalde today. Anyone who shoots his grandmother in the face must have evil in his heart, but it is far more evil for someone to gun down little kids.”
Of fellow False Prophet Franklin Graham, whose events the governor has attended, Abbott said: “[He] noted the country is more focused on political correctness rather than on God’s truth and righteousness, and he challenged both Christians as well as public officials to live their faith both in public and at the ballot box and to spread the Gospel as well.”
Has spoken at the “Texas Renewal Project” -- which “demand[s] that Christians assert control over American government” -- alongside pseudo-historian and fellow False Prophet David Barton, an intellectual architect of modern Christian nationalism.
Has appeared on Christian nationalist movement leader and fellow False Prophet Tony Perkins' Family Research Council's show 'Washington Watch' with guest host Ronny Floyd.
Abbott’s Christian Nationalist Positions
Has spent at least $12 million in taxpayer dollars during 2022 to bus migrants from the border to Washington D.C. and New York City as a cruel media stunt
Ordered state child-welfare officials to cruelly investigate parents of transgender kids receiving gender-affirming care for child abuse, leading to no findings of abuse but multiple traumatized families and agent resignations
Has been commended for his attacks on the LGBTQ community by fellow False Prophet Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council, designated an anti-LGBTQ “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center
Signed legislation that limits teachers’ ability to accurately teach students about race and the history of slavery in America, including by banning “critical race theory” from K-12 classrooms that weren’t actually teaching the graduate-level theory
As Attorney General, defended the Texas state capital’s right to display the Ten Commandments: "The Ten Commandments are a historically recognized system of law."
At a church service in April 2020, Abbott asserted that faith in Jesus would take us through COVID-19, and later banned private businesses from enacting vaccine mandates
Defended the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in court as Attorney General
In 2017, Abbott signed a bill that allows faith-based groups working with the Texas child welfare system to deny services "under circumstances that conflict with the provider's sincerely held religious beliefs."
Restricts immigrant-serving Catholic organizations from aiding migrants.
During a Focus on the Family Broadcast, Abbott claimed that “every child with a heartbeat should be spared from the ravages of abortion.”
By reviewing 2020 votes “for months” without evidence of fraud and refusing to say whether he will accept the 2022 results, Abbott has helped to mainstream the various election-denial conspiracy theories spread by fellow False Prophets and Christian-nationalist movement leaders Rev. Franklin Graham, General Michael Flynn, Bishop Joseph Strickland, strategist Steve Bannon, and Pastor Tony Perkins.