Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett is facing criticism for mocking the Lone Star State’s wheelchair-bound governor, Greg Abbott, by calling him “Hot Wheels” and refusing to apologize, but this is not the first time she has been accused of making light of the hard-line Republican’s disability.
Crockett has risen to national prominence in recent months for her willingness to stand up to conservatives and deliver sharp personal putdowns during committee assignments and TV appearances. She stands out from her colleagues as the second Donald Trump era takes shape without an obvious opposition figure in place.
The firebrand’s comedic instincts appeared to desert her when she said at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in Los Angeles over the weekend: “Y’all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there. Come on now! And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot a** mess, honey!”
Abbott, now 67, was paralyzed below the waist at the age of 26 when an oak tree fell on him as he jogged in the aftermath of a storm in July 1984, permanently damaging his spinal cord, a fact incensed Republicans have pointed out in condemning her comments.
One member of the GOP, fellow Rep. Randy Weber, also of Texas, has gone so far as to file a censure resolution against the Democrat, accusing her of “stooping to vile levels of discrimination and despicable political attacks,” which he called “reprehensible.”
Crockett has maintained she said nothing wrong, insisting on X that she “wasn’t thinking about the governor’s condition” and was instead alluding to the “planes, trains, and automobiles he used to transfer migrants into communities led by Black mayors, deliberately stoking tension and fear among the most vulnerable.”
She continued: “I’m even more appalled that the very people who unequivocally support Trump – a man known for racially insensitive nicknames and mocking those with disabilities – are now outraged.”
Crockett faced similar accusations relating to Abbott in the past, appearing to joke about him “rolling” into his ultimately successful re-election race against Beto O’Rourke in 2022.
“The new nickname I have for Beto O’Rourke is the king of the clapbacks!” she posted in August of that year. “Beto is rolling all around the state… where is Abbott rolling to?”
She shared another post earlier this month referring to the governor as “rolling,” reposting comedian Stacy Cay deriding Abbott’s most recent appearance at the White House to visit Trump as he set about dismantling the Department of Education.
“Rolling up to the White House to cheer on the president destroying the agency that makes sure kids in wheelchairs have equal access to education is wild,” Cay wrote.
The right-wing Washington Free Beacon has meanwhile accused the congresswoman of liking several Facebook comments in 2021 that referred to Abbott as “Hot Wheels.”
The Democrat has made clear her belief that her party needs to be “OK with punching” when it comes to pushing back against the Trump administration. She said as much to CNN’s Jake Tapper over the weekend and has practiced what she preaches by calling out Elon Musk, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Nancy Mace.
She also recently told NBC Dallas’s Lone Star Politics show: “The reality is we’re dealing with an administration that is lawless and disrespectful and so the idea that we’re still going to be nice and friendly and kind and try to look for some sense of normalcy when we’re literally living in a time that is anything but normal.
“I think that we’ve got to get comfortable with letting our hair down a little bit.”
Her tough stance saw her rebuked by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Sunday, who accused her of inciting “domestic terrorism” against Musk’s Tesla electric car brand and advised her to “tread very carefully.”
Undaunted, Crockett snapped back at Bondi in characteristic style on MSNBC: “If you have an issue with terrorism, maybe you should talk to your boss about locking back up those guys that he let out that participated in January 6.”