(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott highlighted Texas’ economic growth that continues to surpass that of most countries at a Harris County Republican Party event in Houston.
“Our economy has grown so large since I have been governor. The size of our economy has exceeded the size of the economy in Brazil, Italy, Canada, and even Russia. The Texas economy is larger than Russia and that makes me more powerful than Putin,” he said, referring to the president of Russia.
If Texas were a country, it would be the eighth-largest economy in the world.
In 2022, Texas’ Gross Domestic Product “totaled $2.4 trillion. Texas keeps climbing the world economic ranks; only a decade ago, it was the 12th-largest economy,” the Texas Comptroller’s Office said.
Regions in Texas have larger economies than countries, the comptroller’s office notes. In 2022, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex’s $709 billion economy “was larger than Poland’s.” The Gulf Coast region’s economy “at $642.1 billion in 2022 exceeded that of Argentina.”
Abbott highlighted new federal data showing Texas’ real GDP was 7.4% in 2023 compared to the nation’s 2.9%. This is after every month Texas continues to break its own employment records and leads all states for job creation over the year.
“For the last month and for the last year, of above all 50 states, the state that ranked number one for the most new jobs is the great state of Texas,” he said.
Despite Texas’ economic success, Texans and Americans are suffering because of Biden-Harris economic policies, he said.
“The number one issue in the voter’s minds when they go cast that vote is Biden-inflation. It’s the economy,” Abbott said. “It’s the fact that when you pay for gas or you pay for groceries, there’s no money left to pay for your rent or your mortgage or taking care of your house. That’s because of policies that Kamala Harris has been involved in putting in a place and policies that she supports running for reelection. We need to make sure that in Texas we reelect and return to office, the members of the state legislature and of our great state who have made Texas the premier economy in the United States of America.”
“Every year that I’ve been governor, Texas has been ranked number one, the best state for economic development,” he said, referring to multiple rankings Texas has received, including best state for business 20 years in a row.
This year, Abbott was listed as one of the most influential leaders in the world by TIME Magazine, The Center Square reported.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies “will destroy our country,” Abbott said.
“One reason why our economy does well is because in Texas we believe in producing our oil and gas. We drill, baby drill in the state of Texas.
“Kamala Harris would crush that. Ignore her change of heart over the past month,” he said, referring to her recent claims that she won’t ban fracking or would authorize drilling permits on federal lands. Both are contrary to the position she’s held over the last 3.5 years as vice president and a U.S. senator, prior to running for president,
“She told you who she was,” Abbott said of Harris. For years, she said she “would eliminate drilling, eliminate fracking, embrace the green New Deal that would destroy the energy capital of the world.
“Houston, Texas is at risk more than any other city in America under a Kamala Harris administration. We must crush Kamala and send Donald Trump back to the White House. There’s so much at stake.”
Abbott was among the first governors to endorse former President Donald Trump for president.
If Harris were serious about her claims, the administration would drop lawsuits against Texas and policies it’s implemented that target the oil and natural industry, Abbott and others argue.
This includes the latest attempt to halt production in the Permian Basin in West Texas and southeast New Mexico, by declaring a lizard as endangered, Texas argues in its latest lawsuit. It’s also after the administration issued a temporary LNG export ban, prompting Louisiana and Texas, the top LNG exporters, to sue. The ban was issued after Texas provided a lifeline to European countries through LNG exports after the Russian-Ukraine war began, The Center Square first reported.
Houston’s Democratic mayor John Whitmire also criticized the LNG export ban, saying at a recent event in Houston, it was “a huge mistake.”
The Biden-Harris administration claims LNG exports increase domestic energy costs and methane emissions, contradicting federal data, The Center Square reported. Last month a federal judge halted the ban.
In contrast, Texas created a $5 billion Texas Energy Fund to primarily advance natural gas development and infrastructure, which the legislature is expected to expand.
