O'Rourke buses Uvalde families to Edinburg for debate as Abbott derides him as 'con man'

[LetMyPeopleVote]

At the only debate between Greg Abbott and Beto, there will be no audience or live press. The press will be in a separate room and Greg is terrified of facing live voters who have not been prescreened,

Beto has brought Uvalde family members to this event. Greg is hiding from these family members because it is clear that Greg never cared about these family members.

Link to tweet

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2022/article/O-Rourke-buses-Uvalde-families-to-Edinburg-for-17478125.php?utm_campaign=sftwitter&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral

Hours before Beto O’Rourke and Gov. Greg Abbott took the stage for their first and only debate, families of children killed during the Uvalde school shooting made a show of force outside the theater where the debate will be held, once again demanding more action on reforming gun laws.

Families held two different press conferences — one with O'Rourke — blasting Abbott for not calling a special session of the Texas Legislature to address gun violence and for not allowing them in the audience as the debate is broadcast on Friday night from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

“He has repeatedly refused to enact stricter gun laws,” said Kimberly Rubio, the mother of 10-year-old Lexi who was among the 19 children and two teachers killed in their classroom at Robb Elementary on May 24.

Other family members of Uvalde victims like Gloria Cazaras, whose daughter Jackie was killed that day, said Texas should raise the age to buy weapons like the AR-15 that was used by the killer to massacre the children at Robb Elementary.

The shooter was 18 at the time of the killings. Florida, New York and California have already raised the age to buy those weapons to 21, but Abbott has said he believes it could be unconstitutional to do in Texas.

[JohnSJ]

1. Will,the debate be on CSPAN for those not from Texas?

[hamsterjill]

2. There's a presser here:

Sorry for the Facebook link, but the families spoke:


https://fb.watch/fT4NLeoBlL/

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Beto O'Rourke blames Gov. Greg Abbott for nixing live audience in tonight's debate

Greg is scared of a live audience

Link to tweet

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Beto-O-Rourke-blames-Gov-Greg-Abbott-for-nixing-17478110.php

Tonight's debate between Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrat Beto O'Rourke won't feature a live studio audience — and O'Rourke is blaming the governor for that arrangement.

"Greg Abbott let more people into the room to watch him ban abortion in cases of rape and incest than he's letting into the room to watch tonight's debate," O'Rourke tweeted Friday morning.

He was referencing Abbott's signing ceremony last year for Senate Bill 8 — the so-called "Heartbeat Bill" — that banned nearly all abortions in Texas months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. He was surrounded by dozens of Texas lawmakers who had championed the legislation.

Abbott's campaign said O'Rourke's tweet was inaccurate, and both candidates had agreed to rules put out by Nexstar Media Group, the television station hosting the 7 p.m. debate at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg.

"The terms of debate were agreed to by both campaigns months ago, and now, at the last minute, Beto doesn't like them," said Mark Miner, the communications director for the Abbott campaign. "He's a fraud surrounded by incompetence. Tonight Beto will have to explain his support for defunding the police, open borders and extreme environmental energy policies that will kill hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in Texas."

But O'Rourke's team said Nexstar did not make the decision. Chris Evans, the communications director for the O'Rourke campaign, said the Democrat had repeatedly proposed hosting the debate with an audience of invited guests, students and members of the public — but the Abbott campaign rejected those ideas each time.

[keithbvadu2]

4. Republicans have a philosophy about school shootings.

Republicans have a philosophy about school shootings.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/27/joe-the-plumber-guns_n_5397981.html

Joe The Plumber: ‘Your Dead Kids Don’t Trump My Constitutional Rights’ To Have Guns

Ironic how he chose that verb back in 2014.

[RussBLib]

5. obviously Abbott cannot spot a "con man" when he sees one

...considering his support for Trump. Talk about a CON, man!

That could be a good retort for Beto to that charge, worded better.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. There was plenty of room for the Uvalde families

Link to tweet