Texas Gov. Greg Abbott attended crowded GOP event before testing positive for COVID

The night before Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) tested positive for COVID-19, he attended a standing room only event held by the Republican Club of Heritage Ranch.
Abbott, who is running for re-election in 2022, and his campaign shared photos and videos of the indoor gathering, showing a mostly maskless and older crowd packed into a room. Abbott also did not wear a mask, and videos show him moving from person to person, stopping to chat and take photos, The Associated Press reports. AP called Republican Club of Heritage Ranch President Jack DeSimone for comment, but he responded he didn't like "to have conversations like this."
After announcing that Abbott tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, his spokesman, Mark Miner, said "everyone that the governor has been in close contact with today has been notified." His infection comes as Texas tries to grapple with a rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, with facilities in Houston running out of room in intensive care units and the state requesting five morgue trailers from the federal government. Despite a surge in COVID-19 cases, Abbott has barred mask mandates in Texas, and state Rep. Rafael Anchia (D) said he is "praying this sign will cause him to rescind the order stopping schools from requiring masks."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
George Floyd: Did Black Lives Matter fail?
Feature The momentum for change fades as the Black Lives Matter Plaza is scrubbed clean
-
National debt: Why Congress no longer cares
Feature Rising interest rates, tariffs and Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill could sent the national debt soaring
-
Why are military experts so interested in Ukraine's drone attack?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The Zelenskyy government's massive surprise assault on Russian airfields was a decisive tactical victory — could it also be the start of a new era in autonomous warfare?
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media