Miller Says Governor Sabotaged Fundraising
But Can't Speak to Trump Cabinet Conjecture
Capitol Inside
April 12, 2024
State Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller touted but had no comment on his consideration for a prestigious post in a second Donald Trump administration on Friday after accusing Governor Greg Abbott of employing heavy-handed tactics in an attempt to backlist him with deep-pocket special interest donors in the Texas Capitol City.
Miller pointed to a Politico story that mentioned him as a candidate for a possible cabinet post if Trump ousts President Joe Biden in a rematch in the fall as the presumptive nominee for the GOP. But the Texas farm boss said he has a practice of withholding comment on "hypotheticals or on blind quotes" like those that were attributed to a source who was not identified.
Miller used a statement that he posted on Friday afternoon on X as a stage to profess his "unyielding" support for Trump and agriculture in Texas and the United States. "Both are under constant attack from international elites, the failing establishment media, and progressive politicians," Miller argued. "Both are essential to America's return to prosperity. Both represent the hopes and needs of millions of Americans."
The agriculture commissioner also seized on the attention that he reaped from his name surfacing in the Trump cabinet contender speculation to unveil a new web site called gasandgroceries.us as a resource for voters for comparative information and data on "Bidenomics" and the economy for four years with Trump as the president. It would not be a spoiler alert to predict that Trump comes out better than the current president on every statistical gauge on the Miller site.
But Miller turned his wrath back to within the GOP in an interview that the conservative publication The Texan published on Friday in a story about the potential appointment of the state farm chief to agriculture secretary or another high-ranking position on the team that Trump would assemble if emerges victorious in November. Miller took a shot at Abbott in the piece.
Abbott “threatened my fundraiser," Miller said. "He’s threatened the lobby not to give me any funds. I didn’t raise a dime from anywhere in Austin last election. He made sure that he cut all that off. I still haven’t got a meeting with him in 10 years. Still haven’t gotten a phone call returned.”
Miller alienated the governor during the covid pandemic when he protested the restrictions that Abbott had in place for several months before disbanding and denouncing them in a sudden reverse. Miller campaigned for Abbott opponents in the 2022 primary election that the governor easily won. Miller has criticized Abbott on an array of other subjects as well.
Miller's claims on the strangulation of fundraising could have some truth to them and be somewhat of a stretch as well. Unlike the other Republican statewide officials here, Miller has never been a prolific fundraiser in a career that included a dozen years in the Texas House in a district where he was unseated by a moderate in the primary election in 2012. Miller bounced back to years later with his initial victory in the agriculture commissioner sweepstakes.
But Miller has Trump for cover as the former president's first major Texas supporter in the political arena when he ran for the White House in 21016. Trump christened Miller as his "man in Texas" that year. The conjecture on Miller as a potential cabinet choice reaffirms his alliance with Trump.
Trump described Abbott earlier this year as a "spectacular man" who he would definitely consider for the role of vice-president on the national ticket. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton are Trump's two closest allies in Texas. Both can expect to have their names floated by possible appointments in a Trump White House in the next few months.
But Miller would appear to have a better chance at a cabinet post on paper than Abbott does in the competition for VP on a Trump ticket. While it may seem inconceivable, Abbott and Miller could take the feud national as the vice-president and agriculture commissioner for the federal government respectively.
Miller struck a populist tone in a fifth and final paragraph in the statement on how he doesn't comment on a "blind source" pitching hypotheticals.
"We must work together to overcome the liars, frauds, and traitors who will once again attempt to put their finger on the scales to deny the will of ordinary Americans like you and me," Miller declared. "Nothing is more important than that."
more to come ...
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