Gov. Greg Abbott blasts Biden for calling Republican election bills 'un-American' and says Texas gives residents more hours to vote than Delaware

 Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott clapped back at President Joe Biden for calling GOP election reform bills 'un-American' by pointing out that Texas currently has more early voting hours than Delaware.  

'The voter law in the state of Texas is far more accommodative and provides far more hours to vote than it does in President Biden's home state of Delaware, where he voted in the last election, where they offer exactly zero early voting days,' Abbott said Tuesday to The Dallas Morning News. 'If there's any voter suppression taking place, the easier allegation is say that voter suppression has taken place in Delaware, not Texas.' 

Earlier Tuesday, Biden had made a speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma, marking the 100th anniversary of the city's race massacre where he brought up Republican efforts to 'assault' voter access. 

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott clapped back at President Joe Biden after Biden called Republican election reform bills 'un-American' 

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On Tuesday, President Joe Biden visited Tulsa, Oklahoma to mark the 100th anniversary of the city's race massacre. Biden gave a speech where he said the right to vote was 'under assault' 

'This sacred right is under assault,' Biden said. 'With an intensity and aggressiveness we have not seen in a long, long time.' 

'It is simply un-American,' the president also said. 'It's not, however, sadly, unprecedented.'   

Biden did not specifically mention Texas.  

Abbott, who received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump for his re-election bid on Tuesday, scoffed at Biden's comments in an interview with the Dallas paper. 

'I wouldn't be surprised if Biden criticized the Senate bill without even having ever read it,' Abbott said. 'I bet he doesn't have a clue what's in there.' 

The Texas governor was referring to a GOP-backed election bill that was killed by Texas House Democrats over the weekend when they staged a walkout, which ran out the clock. 

Abbott did not directly answer questions from The News about some of the controversial provisions in the bill - such as starting early voting on Sundays at 1 p.m. instead of 9 a.m., and also forcing people with disabilities to provide additional proof that they needed a mail-in ballot.  

Instead the Republican Trump ally pointed to previous criticism Biden made about him. 

'This is, of course, the same person who reacted swiftly, calling me a Neanderthal for opening things up, and he proved to be 100 per cent wrong about that,' Abbott said. 'He's going to be proven to be 100 per cent wrong about this.' 

In early March, Biden said the governors of Texas and Mississippi were using 'Neanderthal thinking' when they lifted COVID-19 restrictions in their states. 

In Texas, there wasn't a new spike after restrictions were lifted - and vaccines were being supplied - but instead the state, like the rest of the U.S., has generally seen a downward trend in COVID-19 cases. 

Biden's home state of Delaware does not have early voting, but that will change starting next January, allowing the practice for 10 days before an election - including the Saturday and Sunday before the general election. 

Delaware allows online registration and voters can register to vote until the last Saturday of October before a November general election. 

In Texas, voters much register 30 days before an election, The News pointed out.