Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has rattled academia and legal experts with his open declaration that his state is "targeting professors" over their personal beliefs.

While Republican governors have increasingly seen classrooms as ideological battlegrounds, Abbott's stated position that a Texas educator should have lost his job over "ideological differences" is raising greater concern among experts, especially those who say concerning trends on First Amendment rights at universities in the state have been compounding for years and accelerated under the Trump administration.

Abbott’s post on social media was inspired by the ouster of Art Markman, a tenured psychology professor at the University of Texas, from his administrative role in academic affairs, though not apparently his teaching position.

Markman posted on LinkedIn the dismissal was due to “ideological differences” but did not further elaborate. The Hill has reached out to the university for comment.

"Univ. of Texas professor was dismissed from an administrative post overseeing university academic affairs because of ideological differences," Abbott wrote, echoing the language of an........

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