Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose handling of the pandemic in his state has drawn widespread criticism, has come under even more intense scrutiny since testing positive for the virus on Tuesday.
And now, prominent ICU doctor and NBC medical news analyst Vin Gupta is calling out the governor's response to his own diagnosis in a tweet, seen below.
After repeatedly downplaying the virus and actively thwarting efforts to contain the pandemic in his state, the fully vaccinated governor has demanded and received the most aggressive treatment available--despite having an asymptomatic case of the virus.
In his tweet, Gupta issued a pointed warning to Texans of every stripe as he called out the blasé governor's "anxious and scared" response to his own diagnosis.
"Quickly getting access to monoclonal antibody therapy when you're the fully vaccinated, asymptomatic Governor of Texas shows just how anxious and scared @GregAbbott_TX actually is of a virus that he constantly downplays."
"Hope Texans take note."
Abbott recently banned mask and vaccine mandates despite soaring case loads and several hospital systems in Texas being close to collapse, even going so far as to go to court to ensure the bans pass.
In addition to his ban on mask and vaccines mandates, Abbott also signed an executive order last month to combat Texas's skyrocketing virus case numbers by cracking down on illegal immigrants supposedly bringing the virus over the border, a popular right-wing conspiracy theory with no factual basis.
Even if the theory were true, Abbott's executive order, which is illegal under federal law, comes just months after Abbott rejected federal aid from the Biden Administration aimed at providing testing for migrants at the Texas-Mexico border.
Meanwhile, Abbott, who was photographed at a crowded Republican event without a mask less than 24 hours before his diagnosis, has reportedly told friends he has received a third dose of the vaccine. Texas's vaccination rate lags well behind the national average.
As Gupta rightly pointed out, Abbott's response to his own diagnosis bears no resemblance to the way he has handled the pandemic in Texas, and Gupta's words inspired no shortage of outrage towards the governor.
Texas is among the hardest-hit areas in the U.S. as the Delta variant continues to surge, with hospitals statewide reporting they are running out of ICU beds.
