“In a fiery address Tuesday morning, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) railed against the left and the media while scolding American Airlines, Major League Baseball, and other corporations for meddling in politics. ‘So you’re calling us to tell us it isn’t personal against the lieutenant governor or the governor or the 18 members who voted for the bill, but you haven’t read the bill and you’re calling us out for suppressing the vote? Well, let me tell you what Mr. American Airlines, I take it personally. You’re questioning my integrity and the integrity of the governor and the integrity of the 18 Republicans who voted for this” reports NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.

“When you suggest that we’re trying to suppress the vote you’re in essence between the lines calling us racist and that will not stand! That will not stand! You have a right to your opinion, but at least read the bill.’ Patrick said the state has done a lot to lure businesses to the state through incentives and policy and that corporations like the airline or MLB, which recently pulled the All-Star game out of Georgia over a new voting law there, should reconsider weighing in on politics. ‘You’ve meddled in a lot of issues lately… stay out of things you don’t know anything about and if you want to get involved then you’re taking that risk. You have a right to your opinion, but read the damn bill before you give one. And don’t insult us, ‘We don’t want you to take this personally.’ You know why they said that? They might come down the street the next session and have a bill they want us to pass for them. Good luck!’ Patrick said. ‘We’ll treat them fairly like we always will, but as Gov. Abbott said on FOX earlier this morning, we have brought a lot of businesses to Texas. They come here because we’re the best state to do business in but if they think they’re going to attack the legislature on issues they have no knowledge about and come to us with their hand out, well that’s just not going to be the way we do business. Don’t, on one hand, say ‘Thank you Texas’ while on the other hand slap us in the face. We’re not going to put up with it anymore.'”