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A group of former and current Republicans said on Sunday their ad criticizing Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) ‘s response to the pandemic was withdrawn from airing during Saturday night’s University of Texas-Rice football game. . “Despite permission from ESPN’s legal department, 10 minutes before kick-off, we were told the ad would not run,” said the Lincoln Project, founded to oppose the former President Donald Trump, in a statement. “When asked why, we were told it was a ‘decision made by the university’. Did Greg Abbott or his allies assert political influence to ensure that the ad did not run? “
A spokesperson for Abbott said the governor had nothing to do with the withdrawal of the announcement and the University of Texas did not respond quickly to a request for comment, The morning news from Dallas reports. “Abbott is a graduate of the University of Texas. He appoints the members of the school’s board of directors.” The ad, “Abbott’s Wall,” says you could create an 85-mile-long coffin wall from the more than 60,000 Texans who have died from COVID-19, or fill in a cemetery that stretches between Austin and San Antonio.
The Lincoln Project said it spent $ 25,000 to broadcast the spot nationwide on the Longhorn Network, and that it “will file a Freedom of Information request with the University of Texas at Austin and the Greg Abbott’s official office to determine if any communications were made between the school and those in the Governor’s Office with respect to this First Amendment protected speech. The group said “several sources” informed it “of the political panic within the governor’s office and the campaign organization.”
Abbott is running for re-election next year, and while he has effectively outstripped his main Tory opponents with a series of far-right policies on guns, immigration, abortion and the pandemic, a new poll found its 45% approval and potential challengers Beto O’Rourke (D) and actor Matthew McConaughey beating Abbott or coming very close.
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