Trump Says He’ll Attend NRA Houston Event After Texas Shootings

© Bloomberg Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, U.S., on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Launched in 1974, the Conservative Political Action Conference is the largest gathering of conservatives in the world.

(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump said he plans to keep his scheduled appearance at the National Rife Association’s annual meeting in Houston on Friday despite the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.

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“America needs real solutions and real leadership in this moment, not politicians and partisanship,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. “That’s why I will keep my longtime commitment to speak in Texas at the NRA Convention and deliver an important address to America.”

The former president was among the speakers scheduled to appear at a forum as part of the NRA’s 2022 annual meeting, but that was before at least 19 children and two teachers were gunned down in a Texas elementary school on Tuesday.

Video: Harris: We must 'take a stand' after Texas shooting (Associated Press)

Trump thanked “the great wisdom and bravery” of law enforcement professionals in another Truth Social post and said “we all continue to pray for the victims, their families, and for our entire nation -- we are all in this together!”

The three-day annual meeting, billed as the “largest gathering of NRA members and Second Amendment supporters in the country” features seminars, workshops, exhibits and a forum with scheduled speakers including Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

An NRA spokesman didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether the plans for the annual meeting have changed after the shooting.

(Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for universal background checks and gun-safety measures, is backed by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent company Bloomberg LP.)

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