By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Internet personality Chad Prather, who has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Texas governor in 2022, stopped in Del Rio Tuesday to meet and greet prospective supporters.
Prather, who calls Ft. Worth home, met with several dozen local Republicans at Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q.
Former Val Verde County Judge Laura Allen, who also formerly served as chair of the Val Verde County Republican Party, introduced Prather and said he’d come to the border to get a first-hand look at the ongoing immigrant situation.
Prather shot to fame behind his homemade videos, many of which he shot while sitting inside his truck. In 2013, his most famous video, “Unapologetically Southern,” went viral on YouTube and led Prather to a successful comedy tour and the release of the satirical song, “I’ve Got Friend in Safe Spaces.” He currently hosts “The Chad Prather Show” on BlazeTV and has a weekly podcast on the Blaze Radio Network.
Prather thanked those who attended the event and said, “I used to think that we were one big happy family in the Republican Party in the state of Texas, and I’ve learned that we’re really not. We’re as divided as we are with those who tend to be on the left side of the aisle. I wish the infighting would stop, but I don’t see any end in sight.”
Prather said he plans to run against incumbent Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the Republican nomination in the 2022 primary election.
Prather, a humorist and conservative commentator, said he was inspired to begin his political career after watching the election of former President Donald Trump.
Prather spent some of his talk bashing Abbott’s actions as governor, including mandatory mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When Hurricane Harvey hit, we showed up and we took care of our neighbors. Nobody had to mandate that we do that. We look out for each other. When the COVID pandemic hit, I believe the same thing would have happened. I wish we would have had leadership that, rather than stepping on our freedoms and our Constitution, would have said, ‘You’re adults. You’re Texans. Do the right thing.’ . . . Instead, what I saw was that we caved. We caved to the mandates and the fear, and we caved to what I call the religion of safety-ism,” Prather said.
He said the border situation is untenable and predicted that if it continues, “in 10 years, you won’t recognize this state and much of America.”
He told the audience their property taxes haven’t come down, but have “spiraled up.”
Prather dunned the governor for spending $295 million on contact tracing during the pandemic.
“That right there is enough to kick Greg Abbott out of office. That is an infringement of your rights and an abuse of your money,” Prather said.
He also charged state government spending has increased by $40 billion under Abbott.
He called the failure of the Texas electric grid during the winter of 2021 “a horrible mismanagement.”
“We drew back the curtain and exposed the wizard when it comes to Texas power and management. We’ve gotten away from coal energy and oil and gas and gotten reliant in many ways on unreliable green energy solutions,” Prather said.
Prather also predicted “water mismanagement throughout the state” will become a major problem statewide in the near future.
Prather said he believes elected representatives must “take care of the priorities of the people who put them there.”
Prather directed anyone who wants to learn more about him and his positions on the issues and ideas for leading the state to his website, prather2022.com.
“When it comes down to making Texas what Texas needs to be again, it’s really simple — let’s get government out of your life, get government out of your business, stop letting government regulate everything,” Prather said.
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Contact the author at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
