The National Rifle Association is holding an event in Houston on Friday where former President Donald Trump will speak in support of gun rights.
An 18-year-old man with a legally purchased rifle opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two adults. The school shooting was the worst in Texas history.
On Wednesday afternoon, Trump confirmed on social media that he would not cancel his appearance at the Leadership Forum because of the shooting. He suggested that he would offer real solutions and real leadership in his address at the NRA.
Cruz and Noem are expected to join Trump at the event. According to the NRA, Connecticut.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who had been slated to appear with Trump on Friday, will instead make a return trip to Uvalde and hold a press conference. NBC News reported that Abbott will record a video message to be played at the Houston convention center, which is less than five hours away from the site of the massacre.
CNBC requested to confirm Cruz's attendance at the meeting, but a spokesman for Cruz did not reply. The governor's campaign did not respond when asked about Abbott's reported video remarks.
Two other Texas Republicans, Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, told CNBC earlier this week that they had backed out of the conference prior to the Uvalde shooting.
Cornyn has to be in D.C. on Friday for personal reasons, according to his spokeswoman.
The congressman is unable to make it back from Ukraine in time to attend the event, according to his chief of staff.
A spokesman for the governor confirmed to CNBC that Noem will speak. Mark Robinson is the lieutenant governor of North Carolina.
Noem, in a promotional video shared on the NRA's social media over the weekend, quoted a quote from the late actor and former leader of the organization, Joe Biden.
In a somber speech Tuesday night, President Joe Biden criticized the gun lobby and will travel to Uvalde on Sunday with his wife.
The person who would speak at Friday's event was not immediately confirmed.
The National Rifle Association gave its deepest sympathies to the victims and families affected by the shooting.
The most powerful gun-rights organization in the country, the NRA, has opposed most efforts to restrict firearm access, including by expanding background checks on gun purchases, a plan that most Democrats and gun-control activists support. The Democrat-led House passed several bills to strengthen background checks, but they were stopped in the Senate.
Bipartisan talks on potential gun legislation, which appear to focus on more stringent background checks and so-called red flag laws, resumed in the Senate this week. Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell gave Cornyn the green light to negotiate with Democrats on proposals that the Texas senator believes would have helped prevent the shooting in his state.
The U.S should strengthen security in public spaces and focus on mental health, among other proposals, as suggested by the National Rifle Association and some Republican lawmakers. Cruz suggested this week that schools buildings should only have one entrance guarded by an armed officer.
Critics say the arguments ignore the root of the issue. They say that mass shootings are more common in the U.S. than in other countries.
Critics went on the offensive after the massacre in Uvalde, which came 10 days after an 18-year-old white man shot and killed 10 people in a racially motivated attack at a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York.
Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic nominee for governor of Texas, berated the governor over his handling of the mass shooting at a press conference on Wednesday. Abbott called for Americans to not focus on themselves and their agendas but on healing after O'Rourke was escorted from the room.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday morning called Abbott an absolute fraud for those empty platitudes and noted that the governor was set to speak at the event.
The mayor of Houston, a Democrat, said that his city could not cancel the convention because it would leave the city subject to a number of legal issues.
Turner questioned why elected officials were speaking there and what message they sent.
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