SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott shakes hands with an attendee at a vigil held for the 21 victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School on May 25, 2022 in Uvalde. (Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
'This Is Bullsh*t': Instead of Canceling, Abbott Will Deliver Video Speech to NRA
Headlines suggested the Texas governor was "skipping" the group's convention, but in fact he will give a prerecorded address just days after the Uvalde massacre that left 19 children dead.
May 27, 2022
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott garnered headlines late Thursday indicating that he plans to "skip" the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Houston on Friday and instead travel to Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school earlier this week.
But a look beyond the headlines reveals that Abbott is not actually skipping the event. In an apparent attempt to have it both ways, the governor recorded video remarks that will be played at the gun lobby's convention as he holds a press conference with local officials and grieving residents in Uvalde.
"We're in the stage when Republican politicians hide and hope this blows over. Don't let it."
"We're in the stage when Republican politicians hide and hope this blows over. Don't let it," Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the progressive advocacy group Indivisible, tweeted in response to Abbott's adjusted plans.
Musician Curtis Stigers was among those voicing outrage that Abbott--a fervent opponent of basic gun-safety regulations and recipient of NRA campaign cash--still intends to deliver remarks to the convention, just not in person.
"This is bullshit," Stigers fumed, reacting to a social media post suggesting that he canceled his appearance. "He is still appearing, he's just doing it on a pre-recorded video... He still has the blood of all of those little children on his hands. Greg Abbott is a murderer."
Other prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), are still expected to address the NRA gathering in person as gun control advocates prepare to hold protests outside the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
"I'm going to be there because what Democrats and the press try to do in the wake of every mass shooting is they try to demonize law-abiding gun owners, try to demonize the NRA," Cruz, who has received nearly $750,000 in donations from gun lobbying groups including the NRA over the course of his political career, told a local CBS reporter on Thursday.
Brenda Victoria Castillo, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), said in a statement Friday that "it's no wonder that Governor Abbott (who has received over $20,000 in gun-lobby dollars) and Senator Ted Cruz (who has received $749,000 in gun-lobby dollars) are poised to take no action at all; they are at the helm of whatever the NRA wants."
"NHMC is beyond appalled at these Texas politicians' deplorable actions and denounces their blatant disrespect for the victims of Tuesday's horrific massacre," said Castillo. "The NRA has and continues to oppose reasonable reforms such as background checks on gun sales, red flag laws to keep militarized weapons off the hands of unfit individuals, closing the gun-show loophole, and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. All solutions the majority of Americans support."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott garnered headlines late Thursday indicating that he plans to "skip" the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Houston on Friday and instead travel to Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school earlier this week.
But a look beyond the headlines reveals that Abbott is not actually skipping the event. In an apparent attempt to have it both ways, the governor recorded video remarks that will be played at the gun lobby's convention as he holds a press conference with local officials and grieving residents in Uvalde.
"We're in the stage when Republican politicians hide and hope this blows over. Don't let it."
"We're in the stage when Republican politicians hide and hope this blows over. Don't let it," Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the progressive advocacy group Indivisible, tweeted in response to Abbott's adjusted plans.
Musician Curtis Stigers was among those voicing outrage that Abbott--a fervent opponent of basic gun-safety regulations and recipient of NRA campaign cash--still intends to deliver remarks to the convention, just not in person.
"This is bullshit," Stigers fumed, reacting to a social media post suggesting that he canceled his appearance. "He is still appearing, he's just doing it on a pre-recorded video... He still has the blood of all of those little children on his hands. Greg Abbott is a murderer."
Other prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), are still expected to address the NRA gathering in person as gun control advocates prepare to hold protests outside the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
"I'm going to be there because what Democrats and the press try to do in the wake of every mass shooting is they try to demonize law-abiding gun owners, try to demonize the NRA," Cruz, who has received nearly $750,000 in donations from gun lobbying groups including the NRA over the course of his political career, told a local CBS reporter on Thursday.
Brenda Victoria Castillo, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), said in a statement Friday that "it's no wonder that Governor Abbott (who has received over $20,000 in gun-lobby dollars) and Senator Ted Cruz (who has received $749,000 in gun-lobby dollars) are poised to take no action at all; they are at the helm of whatever the NRA wants."
"NHMC is beyond appalled at these Texas politicians' deplorable actions and denounces their blatant disrespect for the victims of Tuesday's horrific massacre," said Castillo. "The NRA has and continues to oppose reasonable reforms such as background checks on gun sales, red flag laws to keep militarized weapons off the hands of unfit individuals, closing the gun-show loophole, and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. All solutions the majority of Americans support."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott garnered headlines late Thursday indicating that he plans to "skip" the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Houston on Friday and instead travel to Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school earlier this week.
But a look beyond the headlines reveals that Abbott is not actually skipping the event. In an apparent attempt to have it both ways, the governor recorded video remarks that will be played at the gun lobby's convention as he holds a press conference with local officials and grieving residents in Uvalde.
"We're in the stage when Republican politicians hide and hope this blows over. Don't let it."
"We're in the stage when Republican politicians hide and hope this blows over. Don't let it," Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the progressive advocacy group Indivisible, tweeted in response to Abbott's adjusted plans.
Musician Curtis Stigers was among those voicing outrage that Abbott--a fervent opponent of basic gun-safety regulations and recipient of NRA campaign cash--still intends to deliver remarks to the convention, just not in person.
"This is bullshit," Stigers fumed, reacting to a social media post suggesting that he canceled his appearance. "He is still appearing, he's just doing it on a pre-recorded video... He still has the blood of all of those little children on his hands. Greg Abbott is a murderer."
Other prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), are still expected to address the NRA gathering in person as gun control advocates prepare to hold protests outside the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
"I'm going to be there because what Democrats and the press try to do in the wake of every mass shooting is they try to demonize law-abiding gun owners, try to demonize the NRA," Cruz, who has received nearly $750,000 in donations from gun lobbying groups including the NRA over the course of his political career, told a local CBS reporter on Thursday.
Brenda Victoria Castillo, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), said in a statement Friday that "it's no wonder that Governor Abbott (who has received over $20,000 in gun-lobby dollars) and Senator Ted Cruz (who has received $749,000 in gun-lobby dollars) are poised to take no action at all; they are at the helm of whatever the NRA wants."
"NHMC is beyond appalled at these Texas politicians' deplorable actions and denounces their blatant disrespect for the victims of Tuesday's horrific massacre," said Castillo. "The NRA has and continues to oppose reasonable reforms such as background checks on gun sales, red flag laws to keep militarized weapons off the hands of unfit individuals, closing the gun-show loophole, and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. All solutions the majority of Americans support."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.