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It’s the War of the Roses and Greg Abbott’s new tactic is to stop hiding that his office doesn’t pay women equally. Now he’s just coming out with it — doubling down on misogyny. After Greg Abbott (R-TX) was busted for claiming to support equal pay but paying the women in his office less than men for the same jobs, he finally admitted that he would veto equal pay in Texas.

Shortly after the brush fire of pay inequity within his own AG office came to light, the Dallas News reported Wednesday, “Abbott’s campaign told the Associated Press that he would have vetoed the bill, also. His answer came two weeks after Abbott had declined to answer the veto question.”

Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott says he would not sign a bill to make it easier for women to bring pay discrimination suits, hoping to get past an issue that has dogged his campaign for weeks.

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It looks like Abbott thinks if he just admits this, we can all move past what Republicans deem to be a distraction. Meanwhile, Wendy Davis is surging in the polls and the issue of fair pay is catching fire.

While Abbott’s position is not news to those who have learned how to read between the lines, it’s sort of a bold new strategy for Abbott. Up until now, he’s been telling anecdotes about his wife and daughter and talking in very general terms about how much he supports equal pay. Now, instead of playing folksy family man, his new approach is he doesn’t care that he is feeding right into Wendy Davis’ attacks. He isn’t even going to deny that he is a misogynist.

The Davis campaign just managed to back Abbott into a truth-telling corner, from which he has revealed just how out of touch he is.

Wendy Davis campaign spokesman Zac Petkanas noted dryly, “On the day that Texans discover Greg Abbott pays women less than men in his office, he announces he would veto equal pay legislation that would help his employees address this discrimination. Texans are tired of business as usual from Greg Abbott and support Wendy Davis’ fight on economic fairness for all hardworking Texans.”

Greg Abbott just scored a touchdown for the other team, and proved Wendy Davis right about him. And here Texas Republicans don’t think women can negotiate.

They haven’t really met Wendy Davis yet, apparently. But this is just like Republicans — they fight the battle they want to fight, not the battle they are in.

Image: Burnt Orange