White House Slaps Down Texas Governor’s Pandemic Rant

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott is attacking President Joe Biden, falsely claiming he is "importing Covid" by allowing migrant children to enter the country.

"The Biden administration must stop importing Covid into our country," Abbott told CNBC.

Abbott also says the Biden administration is "refusing to test" the immigrants, but on Thursday CNN reportedGovernor Abbott is the one actually causing the problem.

"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is stalling efforts by the Biden administration to provide federal funds for Covid-19 tests for migrants released from custody."

Abbott, after announcing on Wednesday he was removing all coronavirus restrictions, including mask mandates, "alleged, without evidence, that migrants coming into Texas are exposing the state's residents to the coronavirus," CNN adds.

He also posted this tweet, which is false.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki smacked down Abbott's claims when asked on Thursday, in a generous and educational manner as only she can.

"That is not factual," Psaki told a reporter. "We're about facts around here."

Psaki went on to tell reporters, "our policy is is to have that [testing] be done, concluded before they are even moved to go stay with family members or others they may know while their cases are being adjudicated."

As it turns out, Texas, not the federal government, is responsible for testing migrants coming into the country. The federal government, as Psaki explained, partners with the states and non-governmental organizations (NGO's) to pay to get that done.