White House plans to skip press briefing for second consecutive day

The White House’s public schedule of events for Thursday does not include a press briefing or any public events for President Trump a day after a mass shooting at a Florida high school.

Earlier Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the day’s press briefing would be canceled following the shooting at the Broward County, Fla., school.

“In light of this tragedy there will not be a regularly scheduled briefing as previously announced,” Sanders said in a statement. “We will inform you as more information is available.”

{mosads}Wednesday’s briefing was originally scheduled for 1 p.m., but was moved back to 3 p.m. and then 4 p.m. before being spiked as details of the school shooting emerged and the incident began to blanket national cable news.

The Thursday event schedule released Wednesday night contains no press briefing and no public appearances by President Trump. It’s unclear if the White House will add a briefing to its schedule on Thursday.

Trump was briefed on the shooting earlier Wednesday, according to the White House, and has been in contact with state officials about the incident.

At least 17 people were killed in the shooting, according to local law enforcement officials. The suspected shooter, a former student at the school, was taken into custody.

The sheriff’s office later identified the shooting suspect as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz. 

The absence of a briefing on Thursday’s schedule means the White House will not answer questions on camera about the controversy surrounding the handling of domestic abuse allegations against former aide Rob Porter, as well as other issues of the day, including the Florida shooting.

Former President Obama appeared in the White House briefing room on several occasions following mass shootings, including on the day of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 20 students and six staff members dead.