Gov. Greg Abbott is set to appear at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night as he faces backlash for leaving the state once again.
“I can’t wait to be there and talk about Texas’ plans to fix some of our country’s biggest issues such as securing our southern border, implementing school choice for parents, and defending the American people’s personal liberty,” Abbott wrote in a fundraising email retrieved by the Houston Chronicle.
Abbott was announced to appear as a speaker by RNC officials, but he missed the first days of the event, as he addressed power outages in Houston by Hurricane Beryl, however, Democrats blasted him for leaving the state as reparations continue.
There are still more than 40,000 CenterPoint customers in the Houston area without power after nine days since Beryl made landfall.
“Our state’s leaders should not be jetting off to applaud Donald Trump while Texans are still suffering,” wrote Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa. “The Texas Democratic Party calls on Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick and Ted Cruz to skip the Republican National Convention, and prioritize mitigating Beryl’s aftermath.”
Abbott also faced heavy criticism for leaving the state for a business trip in Asia when he knew Beryl would make landfall in Texas.
Democrats noted that, in 2008, former Texas Governor Rick Perry canceled his trip to that year’s RNC in Minnesota to prepare for Hurricane Gustav. Eventually, the hurricane didn’t hit Texas.
“Even then – Perry did not make the mistake of abandoning Texas for self-important press coverage,” Democrats wrote.
According to the Chronicle, this would be Abbott’s first official convention speech since he became governor in 2014. He is scheduled to start his speech at 7 p.m.
