Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in a resurfaced promotional video shot at a Washington, D.C. barbecue restaurant, was caught on camera proclaiming that “the most important thing about barbecue is sauce,” in a shocking display of cluelessness regarding one of the Lone Star State’s most central and passionately-held cultural axioms: that in Texas, meat is king.

This revelation comes at a moment when beef prices in Texas have skyrocketed due to Trump tariffs, corporate agriculture consolidation, and generalized inflationary effects tied to Republican policy choices at both the state and federal level. Many Texas consumers have stopped buying beef entirely—while longstanding and beloved barbecue restaurants, some owned and operated for decades by multiple generations and serving as the cultural hubs of their communities, are being driven out of business.

All of this also emerges at a moment when Republican U.S. Senate nominee and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been falsely claiming that Democratic nominee and Round Rock State Rep. James Talarico is vegan, and thus a non-meat-eater—a patently absurd claim, as Talarico is a widely known connoisseur of the Q.

“This video captures the exact feeling Texans have every day—that in Texas, our Republican officials are completely disconnected from our reality,” said Progress Texas Communications Director Chris Mosser. “While everyday folks struggle to afford our groceries, our Governor fundamentally misunderstands our most treasured traditions, and is clearly unprepared to meat the moment.”

Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson adds, “Governor Abbott has grown comfortable blowing smoke—and seems to lack a basic grasp of, or empathy for, what’s at steak for everyday Texans. Too many of us are fighting to simply get by, while also maintaining our most treasured traditions, including those surrounding Texas barbecue.”

“Governor Abbott has never quite understood the lives of Texans at a basic level, and this poorly-conceived statement proves that,” said Progress Texas Advocacy and Development Coordinator Tatum Owens. “It’s time to bring over three decades of Republican mismanagement to a burnt end, and to swap the raw deal Texas families have endured over that time for much more well-done policies.”

Progress Texas Digital Director Haley Smith agrees, "Where there's smoke, there's fire, and no public official with any understanding of the daily lives of regular Texans would ever have taken such a half-baked position.”

This extraordinarily out of touch moment occurred almost 11 years ago, during Governor Abbott’s first term, at Hill Country BBQ’s since-shuttered D.C. location just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. The video was produced by the conservative news and content aggregation outfit Independent Journal Review, and can be seen at https://youtu.be/RxCgMHsWMLY?si=8UPDYhwh57Ao6TsD.

Progress Texas is the state’s leading non-profit progressive media organization, reaching millions of Texans monthly via our extensive network of digital channels, podcasts, live events and legacy media contributions. Learn more at https://progresstexas.org/.

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