Governor Greg Abbott was scheduled to speak at the NRA convention some time this weekend. But he’s decided to cancel his in-person plans to attend and will instead be pre-recording his remarks for the convention so that he can visit those suffering in Uvalde
Via Fox News:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has canceled his plan to attend the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting this weekend and will instead appear via video and spend time in Uvalde, Texas following a school shooting there that left 21 dead.
“Gov. Abbott will be delivering remarks via pre-recorded video to the NRA Conference,” Abbott campaign Spokesman Mark Miner said in a statement on Friday. “He will be going to Uvalde today.”
Abbott had been slated to attend the convention in Houston where several prominent Republicans including Sen. Ted Cruz and former President Donald Trump are scheduled to speak.
I think it’s entirely understandable why Abbott would rather be in Uvalde and I doubt he’ll get much criticism for choosing to be there instead of the NRA convention.
President Trump, on the other hand, has said he will definitely be at the convention:
Trump said Wednesday that he intends to keep his commitment to attending the event.
“America needs real solutions and real leadership in this moment, not politicians and partisanship,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “That’s why I will keep my longtime commitment to speak in Texas at the NRA Convention and deliver an important address to America. In the meantime, we all continue to pray for the victims, their families, and four our entire nation – we are all in this together.”
He’s right and I’m glad he’s not bailing on the event because of politics. We need strong voices right now in defense of the NRA and our second amendment rights, which are once again under assault.
Fox News also noted that the manufacturer of the gun used by Ramos won’t be attending the convention:
Gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, who made the rifle that was used by Ramos to carry out the attack, announced Thursday it has canceled plans to promote products at the event.
“Daniel Defense is not attending the National Rifle Association (‘NRA’) meeting due to the horrifying tragedy in Uvalde, Texas where one of our products was criminally misused,” Steve Reed, Vice President of Marketing for Daniel Defense, told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday. “We believe this week is not the appropriate time to be promoting our products in Texas at the NRA meeting.”
I get why they feel this way and honestly it doesn’t bother me all that much that they aren’t attending.
As far as the convention goes, we’ll try and have a live stream of it up this afternoon if we can find one.