Texas Governor Greg Abbott attended a fundraising event on Tuesday after he was informed about the deadly shooting at an elementary school that left 19 children and two adults dead.
Abbott had been scheduled to attend the fundraiser at a private home in Texas' Walker County and his campaign said that the governor was briefly present at the event.
The governor's campaign and political events will now be postponed in the wake of the shooting. Abbott, a Republican, is running for a third term as governor against Democrat Beto O'Rourke.
Abbott had visited Taylor County on Tuesday to survey Texas' response to wildfires and was informed about the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde while he was there and later briefly attended the fundraiser.
He also gave a press conference during his visit to Taylor County where he discussed the shooting.
Abbott campaign spokesperson Mark Miner said in a statement to The Texas Tribune on Wednesday: "After holding a briefing and press conference on the current wild fires in Taylor County, where he also provided an update [on] the situation in Uvalde, the Governor did stop by a previously scheduled event last night at a private home in Walker County."
"All campaign and political activity, including a scheduled fundraiser for this evening, have [been] postponed until further notice," the statement went on.
Abbott was asked about attending the fundraiser at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
"With regard to yesterday, I was actually in Taylor County, responding to a different disaster, the disaster of fires that had ripped through Taylor County and destroyed 20 homes, and that is when I learned about the shooting that was taking place pretty much at that time," Abbott said.
The governor went on: "On the way back to Austin, I stopped and let people know that I could not stay, that I needed to go, and I wanted them to know what happened, and get back to Austin so I could continue my collaboration with Texas law enforcement to make sure all the needs were being met here in the Uvalde area."
Abbott is a skillful fundraiser and massively out-fundraised his Democratic opponent Lupe Valdez in the 2018 election.
Abbott is also due to speak at a National Rifle Association (NRA) event in Houston on Friday where former President Donald Trump and other Republicans are slated to appear.
It is not clear if Abbott will cancel his appearance at the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) Leadership Forum
"As far as future plans are concerned...I'm living moment to moment right now, my heart, my head and my body are in Uvalde right now and I'm here to help the people who are hurting," Abbott said on Wednesday.
Newsweek has asked Greg Abbott's campaign for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
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