(RoyalPatriot.com )- Following a tragic mass shooting at a Texas elementary school this week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has postponed his planned live speech at the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in Houston on Friday.
According to a press release from Abbott’s office, he will attend a news conference at Uvalde High School at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, about the same time as an event for which he is listed as a confirmed speaker on the NRA convention website.
According to The Dallas Morning News, which quoted a representative for Abbott, the Texas governor will send a pre-recorded video to the summit instead of attending in person at the convention center in Houston, which is roughly 300 miles away from Uvalde.
Several notable Republicans will attend the conference, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and former President Donald Trump.
After Tuesday’s deadly shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School, which killed 19 students and two teachers, the NRA has faced demands to cancel the event.
Abbott, who has fought to ease gun rules in Texas, has been chastised for his presence at the NRA gathering, which was scheduled only days after the state’s Tuesday tragedy.
During a news conference on Wednesday, Abbott avoided a question regarding his scheduled appearance at the convention, saying he was “living moment to moment.”
Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic gubernatorial contender in Texas, confronted Abbott during a news conference following the mass shooting and demanded that the governor resigns from the event immediately.
O’Rourke tweeted that if the Governor had any decency, he would withdraw from this weekend’s NRA convention and ask them to hold it somewhere other than Texas.
On Friday, O’Rourke and several other organizations plan to protest outside the NRA conference hall.
Country artists Larry Gatlin and Larry Stewart, and Don McClean, best known for his hit song “American Pie” from 1971, have all canceled performances at the conference.
Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, both Republicans from Texas, also canceled appearances at the NRA meeting, despite having intended to do so before the massacre.
