President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while hosting Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in May 2020.
On March 22, at a Human Rights Campaign gala in Los Angeles, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Tex.) made remarks referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as “Governor Hot Wheels.” It’s not an original insult by Crockett: Texans have used it over the years in reference to Abbott collecting lawsuit payouts for his injury, a line of mockery that at the very least has ableist undertones.
Some members of the disability community have expressed frustration about Crockett’s comment on social media, but the biggest voices on social media admonishing Crockett are Republicans and Republican-aligned anti-DEI activists, who have evidently decided all of a sudden to care about the disability they’ve spent recent months trashing. Crockett may be facing such a strong response from the right because she is a Black woman—and her not-so-great statement is feeding them further grounds on which to attack her. (Crockett later posted on BlueSky that she “wasn’t thinking about the governor’s condition” but “about 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.”)
The National Republican Congressional Committee called Crockett’s comment representative of “who they are”—they meaning the Democratic Party. Interestingly, the group has not said the same of Trump, nor its own party—not when Trump called his opponents “mentally disabled,” or when he was alleged by his own relative to have said that disabled people should “just die,” or when he cruelly mocked a disabled reporter.
House Dems' top spox Jasmine Crockett applauded after attacking Texas Governor Abbott for using a wheelchair:
— NRCC (@NRCC) March 25, 2025
"Y'all know we got Governor Hot Wheels down there!"
Recent polling shows Crazy Crockett as one of the leaders of the Democrat Party. This is who they are. pic.twitter.com/eIDlJqSoEU
Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk said that Crockett “continues to embarrass herself” and noted that “Gov. Abbott was paralyzed at the age of 26 when an oak tree fell and crushed his spine while jogging”—the same Charlie Kirk who had, as I previously reported, said that American Sign Language should be removed from government broadcasts in urgent events because it distracted him.
Jasmine Crockett continues to embarrass herself, the state of Texas, and the US Congress by referring to Governor Greg Abbott as “Governor Hot Wheels.” Gov. Abbott was paralyzed at the age of 26 when an oak tree fell and crushed his spine while jogging.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 25, 2025
This woman is trash. pic.twitter.com/ddiwCBkaHL
While Abbott is disabled, his political decisions have piled harm on disabled people—like pulling Medicaid funding from schools and egregiously failing to ensure a stable state power grid, which has already led to disabled people dying in cold weather. The attorney general of Texas, Ken Paxton, is also leading a multi-state lawsuit that could dismantle Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
“Please be assured,” a spokesperson for Crockett’s office wrote in an email, “that the Congresswoman, in no way, meant any harm toward the Governor” nor “to take lightly any medical conditions that he may have,” and that Crockett “has and will continue to advocate for the needs of our disabled neighbors” throughout her district.
Update, March 25: This article has been updated to include details of Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s response.
