OTERO COUNTY, New Mexico — A state district judge has barred the leader of the New Mexico group Cowboys for Trump from seeing his son over social media posts and for refusing to abide by Covid-19 mask requirements. District Judge Mary Rosner ruled last month that Couy Griffin can only see his son on Facetime calls after
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday visited a Texas Division of Emergency Management warehouse in San Antonio to receive an update on the state’s supply of personal protective equipment. He was joined by Nim Kidd, the chief of the state’s emergency management division, and Abbott gave brief remarks. Abbott said that the opening of
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — The New Mexico state Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld the governor’s authority to fine businesses up to $5,000 a day for violating state emergency health orders aimed at slowing the spread of Covid-19. The court heard arguments from a group of business owners who claimed the administration of Gov.
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EL PASO, Texas — Mayor Dee Margo was out of town when the Aug. 3, 2019 tragedy unfolded. He made it a point to get back to El Paso, and has since made it his mission to make sure that tragedy doesn’t define the city. ABC-7 sat down with the mayor to look back on
Continue Reading OTERO COUNTY, New Mexico— The leader of Cowboys for Trump said the re-election campaign for President Donald Trump is distancing itself from the group after the leader posted a video saying some Black athletes should “go back to Africa.” Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin told The Associated Press that a Trump campaign representative contacted
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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will skip the scaled-down Republican National Convention later this month in North Carolina as his state continues to fight a surge in Covid-19 cases. Abbott detailed his decision to GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a letter obtained by ABC News. “It was an honor being selected to serve
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EL PASO, Texas — Both the El Paso Republican Party and the Texas GOP have publicly posted a photograph on social media showing the city’s police chief, in uniform, posing sans face mask or social distancing alongside the state party chairman in a group setting during what may be considered a political event. The image
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico has extended its stay-at-home health order with minor revisions through the end of August in response to a surge in coronavirus cases, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday afternoon. Face masks will also remain required in all public places, she said, and law enforcement may issue citations to
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — Michelle Lujan Grisham has not received the attention of many higher-profile candidates under consideration to be Joe Biden’s running mate. But she has a resume that few of them can match. The New Mexico governor has executive experience and served in the U.S. House and as her state’s health secretary. Tested by the coronavirus
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WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump is for the first time floating a “delay” to the Nov. 3 presidential election, as he makes unsubstantiated allegations that increased mail-in voting will result in fraud. The dates of presidential elections — the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fourth year — are enshrined in
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MIDLAND, Texas — President Donald Trump took sweeping digs at “crazy left radical Democrats” on a trip Wednesday to the fracking fields of West Texas, launching unsubstantiated claims that a Democratic administration would destroy everything from the country’s suburbs to the U.S. energy industry. Trump, speaking in front of stacked oil barrels, also played down
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AUSTIN, Texas — In an advisory opinion issued Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said only local school districts – and not the local health authorities – can order school closings due to the potential for coronavirus outbreaks. “While playing an important role in protecting the health of school children and employees, local health authorities
Continue Reading OTERO COUNTY, New Mexico — A prominent civil rights leader in New Mexico is among numerous activists and political figures who are denouncing the leader of the Cowboys for Trump political support group after he posted a social media video calling for some Black athletes to “go back to Africa.” Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an exclusive interview on Monday, southern New Mexico’s congresswoman told ABC-7 that her constituents deserve a $600 boost in unemployment as well as a bonus when they return to work. Unemployment negotiations “It’s a compromise,” said U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D – Las Cruces). “It identifies that we do need
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FORT WORTH, Texas — Hundreds of Texas bar owners say they’ll defy Gov. Greg Abbott’s mandate that ordered them closed after a surge in coronavirus cases. Approximately 800 bar owners have promised to participate in an event organized by Fort Worth bar owner Chris Polone called the “Freedom Fest” where bar owners have pledged to open
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas — President Donald Trump’s attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from census figures that will be used to divide up seats in Congress among the states is now being challenged in federal court by a coalition of state and local governments that includes El Paso County. The Constitution requires a once-a-decade count of the “whole number
Continue Reading SANTA FE, New Mexico – New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday afternoon hit the pause button on reopening public schools this fall, meaning classes will be online only at least through Labor Day. State public education officials initially proposed a hybrid plan combining in-person classroom time with remote online learning, but the governor
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WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump says he has scrubbed his planned Republican National Convention scheduled for Florida next month, citing a “flare-up” of the coronavirus. Trump’s formal renomination will still go forward in North Carolina. Trump said Thursday of Jacksonville, “To have a big convention is not the right time.” Trump moved parts of
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DALLAS, Texas — The woman who invited Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to her mother’s burial “to witness first-hand the tragedy” of mourning the respiratory therapist who died of Covid-19 criticized the state’s response to the pandemic. “My mom could still be alive had there been a mask mandate much earlier on and had Texas stayed
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced Wednesday that federal agents will surge into several more states, including New Mexico, to help combat rising crime, expanding the administration’s intervention in local enforcement as Trump runs for reelection under a “law-and-order” mantle. Trump and Barr were joined at the White
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SANTA FE, New Mexico — While the state Supreme Court has upheld Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public health order prohibiting indoor service at restaurants and breweries for now, it has agreed to weigh a challenge from the restive restaurant industry. Lujan Grisham this month reinstated a ban on indoor dining based on surging Covid-19 infections
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EL PASO, Texas — El Paso City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday, with Mayor Dee Margo breaking ties, to continue withholding information on the specific locations of Covid-19 clusters and to reject a plan for additional city virus testing sites. That means identities of businesses, nursing homes and other locations where significant outbreaks of the virus
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EL PASO, Texas — In an interview with ABC-7 on Tuesday evening, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declined to directly address a remark by one of his advisers that was critical of President Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Adviser David Carney told the New York Times that “the president got bored with it,” so Abbott
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Kanye West will not make an appearance on the presidential ballot in South Carolina this year. The announcement comes after the rapper held his first presidential campaign event in the state on Sunday. A South Carolina Election Commission spokesperson said West failed to submit the necessary 10,000 signatures on Monday. South
Continue Reading Click here for updates on this story North Texas, TX (KTVT) — In a letter simply addressed to ‘Religious Private Schools in Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton made claims that local public health orders attempting to restrict school reopenings violate the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. Paxton further said that orders restricting the reopening of religious
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WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump is refusing to publicly commit to accepting the results of the upcoming White House election, recalling a similar threat he made weeks before the 2016 vote, as he scoffs at polls showing him lagging behind Democrat Joe Biden. Trump says it’s too early to make such an ironclad guarantee.
Continue Reading CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Kanye West kicked off his first presidential campaign event in South Carolina on Sunday night, a day before the state’s deadline to file signatures as an independent candidate. The rapper appeared at the Exquis Event Center rally with the numbers “2020” in his hair. West invited a couple of young women from the
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WASHINGTON, DC — The new ABC News/Washington Post poll is the latest to show former Vice President Joe Biden on a roll. He leads President Donald Trump 55% to 40% among registered voters. It’s a slightly tighter 54% to 44% among likely voters. Public preference for Biden over Trump in trust to handle the coronavirus pandemic has soared since March, boosting Biden – along with
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EL PASO, Texas — Joe Biden’s campaign debuted its first general election television ad in El Paso on ABC-7 over the weekend, dipping its toes in a state long considered a Republican stronghold and one that’s seen an uptick in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks. The minute-long coronavirus-focused spot, titled “Tough,” is part of a new mid-six figure broadcast and digital
Continue Reading Another musician is telling the Trump campaign to stop using their music, this time the cease and desist is coming from the band Linkin Park. On Saturday night, President Trump retweeted a campaign video that featured the band’s 2002 hit song ‘In The End.’ Linkin Park swiftly took action on having the video removed and
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