{"id":277858,"date":"2026-05-04T05:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T05:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/277858\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T05:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T05:09:18","slug":"gov-greg-abbotts-viral-post-compares-texas-cities-to-celebrities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/277858\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Greg Abbott&#8217;s viral post compares Texas cities to celebrities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gov. Greg Abbott is <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/article\/texas-gov-abbott-blasted-sharing-ai-generated-22190447.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:no stranger to sparking debate on social media;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">no stranger to sparking debate on social media<\/a>, but in his latest post, he decided to take part in a viral meme.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a short but succinct post to Facebook on Saturday, the governor shared the viral photo of Tina Fey, Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet and Kylie Jenner sitting courtside at a New York Knicks playoff game. The meme has been popular for a number of reasons-Chalemet&#8217;s manspreading and the unique fits among them-but some online have used the photo to describe cities or neighborhoods through the three very differently dressed celebrities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">So Abbott shared the photo, but with the caption &#8220;Austin \/ Houston \/ Dallas.&#8221; With no additional context, the post appeared to cheekily use the three celebrities as symbolic stand-ins for three of the state&#8217;s largest metro areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/houston-texas\/article\/judge-viral-outburst-courtroom-video-22183903.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:The post quickly went viral,;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The post quickly went viral,<\/a> garnering more than 7,500 likes and 700 comments by Sunday morning, with many users largely agreeing with the governor&#8217;s playful framing of the Lone Star State&#8217;s biggest cities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;That&#8217;s actually a pretty solid assessment,&#8221; one user commented.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Greg got jokes but he accurate,&#8221; wrote another.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Austin, Houston and Dallas each carry their own distinct identity across Texas, and as one commenter put it: &#8220;only a Texan would know this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Austin, Houston and Dallas<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Houston-or Space City-stands as a global energy, medical and shipping powerhouse. One of the most diverse cities in the U.S., Houston is also a cultural melting pot. Dallas is more well known as a major financial and corporate hub, home to major business and banking sectors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Meanwhile, Austin has built a reputation around technology, live music and a growing film and creative scene that has helped shape its national image, identifiable through its unofficial slogan: &#8220;Keep Austin Weird.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The lighthearted reactions to Abbott&#8217;s post also humorously addressed other Texas cities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Fort Worth is at home waiting for football season,&#8221; one person joked. &#8220;There&#8217;s San Antonio just off the edge of the screen on the left\u2026,&#8221; another wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Whether or not the governor&#8217;s celebrity pairings resonate, the post has clearly sparked conversation about how Texas&#8217; largest cities are seen and represented, and how their identities continue to be defined in different, and often competing, ways.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">More News<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/houston-texas\/article\/eado-warehouses-pagewood-22205680.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:New Look | Historic Houston properties set for walkable retail, dining makeover;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">New Look | Historic Houston properties set for walkable retail, dining makeover<\/a><br \/><a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/houston-texas\/article\/lieutenant-arrested-undercover-sting-quoc-viet-ngo-22212613.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Crime | Houston police lieutenant arrested in online solicitation case;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Crime | Houston police lieutenant arrested in online solicitation case<\/a><br \/><a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/houston-texas\/article\/rainbow-bridge-texas-22203650.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Caution | Texas&#039; frightening Rainbow Bridge reopens to traffic;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Caution | Texas&#8217; frightening Rainbow Bridge reopens to traffic<\/a><br \/><a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/houston-texas\/article\/shern-min-chow-after-khou-22199435.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Transitions | Shern-Min Chow left KHOU. Here&#039;s what she&#039;s doing now;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Transitions | Shern-Min Chow left KHOU. Here&#8217;s what she&#8217;s doing now<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For the latest and best from Chron, <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/link.chron.com\/join\/signup-chron\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:sign up for our daily newsletter here.;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">sign up for our daily newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">This article originally published at <a data-yga=\"{\" ylinkelement=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/texas\/article\/abbott-houston-chalemet-fey-jenner-photo-22238904.php?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=yahoo_syndication\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Gov. Greg Abbott&#039;s viral post compares Texas cities to celebrities;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Gov. Greg Abbott&#8217;s viral post compares Texas cities to celebrities<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Greg Abbott is no stranger to sparking debate on social media, but in his latest post, he&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[132,102659,6980,392,56,102658,6396,27,29,293,28,102660],"class_list":["post-277858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-austin","tag-biggest-cities","tag-celebrities","tag-greg-abbott","tag-houston","tag-kylie-jenner","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-legislature","tag-texas-news","tag-tina-fey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}