Abbott attended campaign fundraiser hours after Texas shooting

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) confirmed on Wednesday that he stopped at a campaign fundraiser on Tuesday after learning of the shooting that killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers at a school in Uvalde. 

“I was actually in Taylor County responding to a different disaster, a 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 here,” Abbott said at a press conference on Wednesday when asked about the fundraiser in Walker County, some 300 miles from Uvalde.

While still in Taylor County during a press conference about wildfires, Abbott gave an update on the school shooting that had just happened.

“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 that I could continue my collaboration with Texas law enforcement to make sure that all the needs were being met here in the Uvalde area,” he said. 

“My heart, my head and my body are in Uvalde right now, and I’m here to help the people that are hurting,” the governor added. 

The Hill has reached out to Abbott’s campaign and office for further comment.

Abbott is vying for his third term as governor against Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke. O’Rourke interrupted the governor at the same press conference on Wednesday.

“You are doing nothing,” O’Rourke told Abbott. “You said this was not predictable, this was totally predictable, and you choose not to do anything.”

O’Rourke’s move was criticized by Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, who yelled, “Sir, you are out of line. Please leave this auditorium.”

“I can’t believe you’re a sick son of a bitch who would come to a deal like this to make a political issue,” McLaughlin said before O’Rourke was escorted out of the auditorium.