HOW ABBOTT THAT!

Trump Explodes at Loser Ally Hours After Endorsing Him

The president was gleefully backing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott before his shock defeat.

Donald Trump turned on one of his longtime allies who suffered an embarrassing midterm defeat, just hours after offering a glowing endorsement of him.

At 8:19 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Trump expressed his unbridled support for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as he sought re-election, describing him as a “strong and highly respected” leader who would “WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN.”

However, Abbott was not spared from the seismic blue tsunami on Tuesday, as Democrat Gina Hinojosa flipped the governorship in the deep-red state, preventing the governor from securing a fourth term. James Talarico piled further misery on Republicans by winning the Texas Senate race, while Nathan Johnson delivered another major upset by winning the Texas attorney general’s office for the Democrats.

The 80-year-old president wasted little time lashing out at Abbott after his stunning defeat, posting an attack on Truth Social at 11:35 p.m.

“If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost,” Trump wrote. “He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!”

Abbott had previously beaten his last three gubernatorial opponents by double-digit margins. The incumbent was long considered the favorite to clinch re-election in the midterms, having entered the year with a mammoth campaign war chest of more than $100 million.

By comparison, state Rep. Hinojosa was a relative unknown statewide when she entered the race and couldn’t raise anywhere near as much money for her gubernatorial bid.

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Multiple polls throughout 2026 also showed Abbott beating Hinojosa after she clinched the Democratic nomination. However, buoyed by intense voter backlash against Trump and momentum behind Talarico’s Senate campaign, Hinojosa’s numbers improved, putting her ahead of Abbott in several surveys during the final weeks of the campaign.

Hinojosa, who is set to become Texas’ first Latina governor, also took advantage of the Latino and Hispanic demographic turning against Trump amid the president’s hardline immigration policies during his second term.

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Abbott appeared to decide that distancing himself from the deeply unpopular Trump might improve his re-election chances.

Last month, the governor opted not to join the president at a midterm rally in San Antonio, claiming he was too busy to attend. The move came after a New York Times poll showed Hinojosa with a three-point lead, with the midterms just weeks away.

Speaking at her election party in Austin, Hinojosa said her victory over Abbott had “shocked the world.”

“It never bothered me that they doubted me. It bothered me that they doubted us,” Hinojosa told her supporters. “Hundreds and millions on attack ads, written off over and over again, but Texas, my faith in you never wavered.”

Abbott told his supporters following his crushing election defeat that he would be “leaving Texas in far better shape than it’s ever been.”

The Daily Beast has contacted Greg Abbott’s office for comment.

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