TV ad slamming Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pulled 10 minutes before Texas football game, Lincoln Project says

A group of former and current Republicans said Sunday that their ad criticizing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) pandemic response was pulled from airing during Saturday night's University of Texas-Rice football game. "Despite being cleared by ESPN's legal department, 10 minutes before kickoff, we were informed that the ad would not run," the Lincoln Project, founded to oppose former President Donald Trump, said in a statement. "When asked why, we were told it was a 'University-made decision.' Did Greg Abbott or his allies assert political influence to ensure the advertisement was not broadcast?"

A spokesman for Abbott said the governor had nothing to do with pulling the ad, and the University of Texas did not expeditiously respond to a request for comment, The Dallas Morning News reports. "Abbott is a University of Texas graduate. He appoints members of the school's board of regents." The ad, "Abbott's Wall," says you could create an 85-mile-long wall of caskets from the more than 60,000 Texans who have died from COVID-19, or fill a cemetery that stretches between Austin and San Antonio.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.