Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) announced on Friday that he was canceling an appearance he was supposed to make that morning at the National Rifle Association’s convention in Houston.
In a statement issued through his reelection campaign, Patrick said that after a discussion with NRA officials, he had decided not to go to the event in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas where 19 students and two adults were killed.
“While a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and an NRA member, I would not want my appearance today to bring any additional pain or grief to the families and all those suffering in Uvalde,” Patrick said on Friday. “This is a time to focus on the families, first and foremost.”
The lieutenant governor’s announcement came the morning after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) cancelled his plans to speak at the NRA convention in-person and decided to send a pre-recorded video address instead.
High-profile Republicans who were scheduled to speak at the conference this weekend are facing pressure to drop out of the gathering out of respect for the 21 shooting victims who died on Tuesday.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) said after the massacre that they’d already backed out of the conference for scheduling reasons before the shooting happened.
Ex-President Donald Trump, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are still slated to attend.
