Beto's Last Chance at a 2020 Revival
After five months mired in the day-to-day grind of a struggling presidential campaign, the El Paso massacre shook something loose in Beto ORourke.
Two days after the shooting, which was carried out by a white supremacist who was motivated by what he called an Hispanic invasion, ORourke was in his hometown surrounded by a sea of reporters. Someone asked him how President Donald Trump should respond; ORourke was having none of it.
Hes been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. Members of the press, what the fuck? ORourke implored. Its these questions that you know the answers to. I mean, connect the dots about what [Trumps] been doing in this country. Hes not tolerating racism; hes promoting racism. Hes not tolerating violence; hes inciting racism and violence in this country.
It was these sorts of unfiltered, from-the-gut responses that animated his 2018 Senate campaign and made him a political folk hero in Texas and across the country. It was also the sort of thing that seemed to be far less common as ORourke tried to figure out how to be a top-tier presidential contender.
Read more: https://www.texasobserver.org/betos-last-chance-at-a-2020-revival/