This post has been updated.
The mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater has ground the presidential race to a halt.
President Obama and Mitt Romney both canceled scheduled Friday campaign events, and the Obama campaign told TPM it is taking down its ads currently running in Colorado. The Romney campaign is taking down all of its ads in Colorado “until further notice,” according to a campaign spokesperson.
Vice President Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama and Ann Romney have also canceled their scheduled campaign stops.
The tragedy in Aurora, Colo., comes as both sides were escalating the negative attacks in the presidential race.
“We have asked affiliates to pull down our contrast advertising for the time being,” Obama spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters Friday. “It takes time for stations to be able to do this, but we are making every effort.”
Along with Obama and Romney, other politicians are dropping their schedules for the day. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell canceled a rare Friday press conference in Washington D.C. and the RNC put a halt to its scheduled events as well.
Update: At around 2 p.m. ET, the Obama campaign announced it had pulled all its ads from Colorado, not just the negative ads — or “contrast ads,” as the campaign calls them — it announced it was pulling earlier in the day.
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