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A number of GOP presidential hopefuls will attend the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in the wake of mass shootings in Nashville and Louisville.
According to CNN, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence are set to travel to Indianapolis to attend the NRA meeting on Friday (April 14), potentially marking the first time that the ticket-mates will be in the same room since leaving office.
Other GOP candidates and prospects for the 2024 presidential election are expected to appear in person at the conference, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley are slated to deliver video messages throughout the weekend.
The NRA, the nation’s leading gun lobby, remains influential among conservatives, and its annual gatherings are typically a magnet for presidential hopefuls.
This weekend's gathering comes less than a week after five people were shot and killed at a bank in Louisville Kentucky. The school shooting that left 6 people dead in Nashville, Tennessee also looms over the Indianapolis convention.
Last year, the NRA convention carried on as scheduled in Houston days after a mass shooting at an elementary school 280 miles west in Uvalde, Texas.
“The Republican Party continues to put the gun industry and the gun makers before the safety of our kids and our families. It’s extraordinary, it’s heartbreaking and it’s infuriating,” Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said in a statement on Thursday (April 13).
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