Texas Gov. Greg Abbott named to the 2024 TIME100 list of most influential people in the world

HOUSTON (KIAH) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was just named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in their 2024 TIME100 list.

The news magazine cited Abbott’s zeal to give his politically conservative base cheers and progressives jeers through his actions on hot-button issues, such as diversity, gun control and the border.

“During his nine years as the governor of Texas, he has proved adept at simultaneously throwing red meat to his conservative base while tempering pushback from the state’s liberal enclaves,” the magazine wrote.

Abbott has been very aggressive on dealing with the Texas-Mexico border, either by sending Texas state troopers to the border through Operation Lone Star or by busing migrants who cross the border to cities with Democratic mayors, such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

His most recent measure of enforcement on the border, Senate Bill 4, which gives local police the authority to arrest illegal migrants, is still tied up in the federal courts as the Justice Department is suing to stop the law.

“We have worked tirelessly to ensure Texas remains a beacon of freedom and opportunity for the entire world, and it is an honor to be recognized for all we have accomplished by being named as one of the most influential people in the world by TIME100,” Abbott said in a statement.

“From building the eighth-largest economy in the world to leading a historic border security mission amidst the most prolific border crisis our nation has ever seen, one thing remains clear: where Texas leads, others follow. I am proud of the work we have accomplished and look forward to building an even bigger, better Texas for generations to come.”

But Abbott has suffered a couple of political setbacks: the school shooting in Uvalde in 2022 and the failure of the state’s power grid in 2021 during a state-wide ice storm.

Abbott still has maintained the state’s economy with little issues. He recently met with Samsung president and CEO Kye Hyun Kyung and other executives in Austin after the announcement of more than $40 billion by the company to develop a computer chip manufacturing and research cluster outside Austin.

TIME’s annual TIME100 list recognizes the 100 most influential individuals from across the world who have made a profound impact in business, entertainment, politics, science, and more.