Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted and then deleted an inaccurate graphic about fascism, purportedly bearing a quote from former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, early Tuesday morning.
“The fascists of the future will call themselves anti-fascists,” the graphic said, claiming it was Churchill’s perspective “on the leftwing.” Abbott, a Republican, tweeted “some insights are timeless” to accompany the graphic.
Some conservative lawmakers have been outspoken critics of often-violent left-wing protest groups that label themselves “antifa” or “antifascist.”
Abbott’s post was originally tweeted at 1:10 a.m. on Tuesday, but was subsequently taken down at approximately 10:20 a.m., Dallas News reports. The image was retweeted more than 1,400 times and received replies from more than 2,600 people.
Abbott told reporters later Tuesday that he believes in the sentiment, and said the quote could be attributed to him.
“Listen, what I tweeted was a sentiment that I have, and that is Antifa is dangerous to society and Antifa is the antithesis of safety and security,” Abbott told reporters Tuesday, per the Texas Tribune. “And they are antagonists to law enforcement as well as to other people.”
“It was irrelevant to me who may or may not have said that in the past,” Abbot added. “I didn’t want to be accused of plagiarism for saying it. If no one else said it, attribute the quote to me because it’s what I believe in.”
(1/2) @GregAbbott_TX to reporters on his Churchill tweet: “Listen, what I tweeted was a sentiment that I have, and that is Antifa is dangerous to society and Antifa is the antithesis of safety and security. And they are antagonists to law enforcement as well as to other people.
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) August 7, 2018
(2/2) It was irrelevant to me who may or may not have said that in the past. I didn’t want to be accused of plagiarism for saying it. If no one else said it, attribute the quote to me because it’s what I believe in.”
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) August 7, 2018
Last year, Abbott tweeted a false story about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones warning players they would be fired if they protested the national anthem.
