Texas governor has little to show for Asia trip he took as Beryl bore down on the state

For all the flak Gov. Greg Abbott's taking over his economic development trip to Asia as Hurricane Beryl bore down on the state, he has few tangible successes to point to from his trek, the Texas Tribune reports.

Although allies of Texas' Republican governor pointed to "economic and cultural partnerships" bolstered by the tour, the two largest announcements to come out of it both appeared likely to happen whether he went overseas or stayed put to lead during the disaster, according to the news site.

Those victories? A new state office to support trade in Taiwan and a South Korea-based firm's plan to build a Texas superalloy factory. Such investments typically take months, if not years, of work to line up, meaning they were probably done deals before Abbott boarded the plane.

“Relationships matter,” Matt Hirsch, a former deputy chief of staff to Abbott, told the Tribune in defending the trip. “There's nothing more impactful from an economic development standpoint than showing up. I think that matters a great deal to the companies over there, the traditions and the cultures. It is a source of pride and it is a tremendous deal.”

Abbott and his aides also told the Tribune they were in constant communication with the state's emergency leaders during the crisis, which knocked out power to 2 million people, tens of thousands of whom are still waiting for it to return. At least 18 people have so far died from the storm and its aftermath, some from heat exposure suffered amid the electrical outages.

Despite Abbott's insistence he did nothing wrong, national publications likened his trip to Sen. Ted Cruz's ill-timed excursion to Cancun while Winter Storm Uri gripped the state. Meanwhile, a Houston Chronicle editorial accused Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, whom the governor left in charge during his absence, of "botching the response to Hurricane Beryl."

What's more, President Joe Biden told Texas media that Abbott and Patrick dragged their feet in requesting a formal disaster resolution, a necessary first step in getting federal aid dispatched to the hard-hit Texas Gulf Coast. The president said he "kept tracking the lieutenant governor" to start the process, but was unable to reach him until Tuesday afternoon — more than a day after landfall.

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