As Texas reverses course on masks, GOP digs in on convention

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — As Texas began mandating face coverings Friday on the orders of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, his party charged ahead with plans for a massive convention this month in Houston, magnifying the conflicting responses in the Texas GOP to a rampant resurgence of the coronavirus.

Abbott, governor of America's biggest red state, has dodged saying whether he supports still holding an indoor three-day convention beginning July 16. The event typically draws thousands of people — making it one of America's biggest political conventions — but comes this year at a moment when Houston is one of the nation's biggest virus hotspot.

On Friday, Houston's mayor urged the Texas GOP to again reconsider as the party views their convention as a test run for the Republican National Convention next month in Florida, where President Donald Trump is expected to accept the Republican nomination.

“This is a convention that Trump wants," said Leslie Thomas, a state GOP committee member from Dallas, during a party meeting late Thursday. "Like it or not, Texas is the Republican state. We bear that. So we need to stand our ground.”

The conflict underscores the pressure Abbott has faced from within and outside his party as he tries to gain control of an alarming resurgence of the virus in Texas. Conservative activists blasted the new mask order, condemning it as heavy-handed. Abbott made new appeals to those he says are failing to grasp the severity of the crisis in Texas, which earlier this week set a record with more than 8,000 newly confirmed cases in one day.

“It just seems like people are not comprehending the magnitude of the problem,” Abbott told San Antonio television station KSAT.

The U.S. set another record on Friday with 52,300 newly reported cases,...