MAGA governor makes rare break with Trump over alarming voting remarks

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott distanced himself sharply from President Donald Trump's demands to seize federal control of U.S. elections during a campaign event this week, according to Houston Public Media.

"Listen, my understanding of the United States Constitution, and that is elections for state positions are to be conducted by states, and I don’t think we should deviate from that," Abbott told reporters, when questioned about Trump's remarks as he rallied with supporters in Houston.

This comes after Trump proclaimed on a podcast with his former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, "The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over. ... We should take over the voting in at least ... 15 places.’ The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting." Experts have sounded the alarm over these remarks, with some even speculating he could try to twist the Voting Rights Act upside down to force states to pass new voting restrictions.

Abbott, who is seeking a fourth term in office this year, has generally been a reliable ally of Trump. However, in recent weeks, he has had to walk a fine line as public outrage boils over at the president.

In particular, despite years of positioning himself as a border hawk, he offered some mild criticism of how Trump's Department of Homeland Security has handled immigration crackdowns following national protests and the federal agent-involved shooting deaths of two people in Minneapolis.

"They, being the White House, need to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that respect is going to be reinstilled," said Abbott on a recent podcast. "That's not an easy task, especially under the current circumstances, but I know that they (the White House) are working on a game plan." He went on to fault Democratic politicians in Minnesota for fanning the protests and claiming Texas doesn't see similar unrest — though not long after that interview, chaos erupted near a Texas detention camp.