Texas Democrat gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke on Wednesday crashed GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s press conference addressing the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting in which19 children and two adults were fatally shot.
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Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is projected to win his party’s primary nomination on Tuesday, and is expected to face Democrat Beto O’Rourke this fall.
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Live from music row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Leahy was joined in studio by all-star panelists, Crom Carmichael and Norm Partin to speak about Beto O’Rourke’s recent calls for gun-grabbing in the United States.
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Democratic candidates showed almost unanimous agreement on LGBTQ issues at Thursday night’s CNN forum in Los Angeles as they zoned in on the Christian faith’s compatibility with LGBTQ issues.
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I am sick and tired of hearing about “white privilege.” It has become the go-to buzz phrase for Caucasian social justice warriors seeking a participation trophy for their self-assumed part in “the struggle” of racial and ethnic minorities in America.
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Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke, the former congressman from Texas who couldn’t beat Ted Cruz in a U.S. Senate race but who nevertheless believes he can win the presidency, said a curious thing at the Democrats’ third primary debate in Houston on Thursday night.
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Former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas suggested pushing financial institutions into refusing service to Americans who are seeking to purchase semi-automatic rifles, among other forms of artillery.
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The latest killing spree by a mentally unstable man in Texas who had just been fired from his job has provoked the predictable round of calls that politicians “do something” and that something is, of course, confiscate lawfully owned firearms from law-abiding citizens.
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Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke on Friday called for mandatory buybacks of so-called assault weapons, and a nationwide gun licensing program.
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A Houston paper said Monday Democratic 2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke should abandon his “vanishingly small” presidential hopes and come home to run for a Senate spot.
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Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said Monday that he’s “open” to a “mandatory” gun buyback program.
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Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke placed national anthem kneelers front and center during the primary debate in Detroit Tuesday.
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If you were able to catch a glimpse of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg in Nashville on Wednesday, you were part of a select few. The progressive mayor of South Bend, Indiana stumped in Music City Wednesday — but only far-left progressives with cash to spend were there, as the event was pay-to-attend as The Tennessee Star reported in a “softball” preview story Monday that basically provided the candidate’s policy positions. The far-left Tennessean ran a glowing story Thursday. The story is here, in which the homosexual mayor who has said America was founded on white supremacy cast himself as a moral Christian alternative to President Donald Trump: “Voters who are guided by religious principles need to know they have a choice,” he said. People of faith “don’t have to stand with a president whose personal life flies in the face of what faith teaches us about how to conduct ourselves,” Buttigieg said. The venue also was announced at the last minute, The Star said. The Tennessean revealed that location was the Cannery Ballroom. Buttigieg did not exactly get grilled by any other media either. NewsChannel 5 had a six-paragraph story here. The only quote from Buttigieg was: “It’s important to speak to…
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During a campaign visit in Nashville Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said that Nashville and Texas and other “places that formed the Confederacy” are bigoted and America was formed on white supremacy. In the same breath as mentioning Nashville, he mentioned his home state of Texas and linked them to racism. “Those places that formed the Confederacy, that this country was founded on white supremacy. And every single institution and structure that we have in our country still reflects the legacy of slavery and segregation and Jim Crow and suppression, even in our ability to vote and participate in our elections.” He went on to mention purging of voter rolls. O’Rourke made the comments during a roundtable discussion in Nashville hosted by advocacy organization Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). A full video of the roundtable discussion is available here. The remarks come in the final two minutes of the video. O’Rourke made several stops in Nashville on Sunday and Monday, as The Tennessee Star reported. TIRRC’s political action committee affiliate, TIRRC Votes, tweeted, “During our roundtable with @BetoORourke we talked about ending worksite enforcement and expanding federal protections for undocumented workers. Raids are designed to instill…
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Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke was welcomed by a large, raucous crowd during his Nashville campaign stop Sunday afternoon. Former U.S. Rep. O’Rourke (R-TN-16) tweeted a video from the rally. Nashville! pic.twitter.com/Gx6aGYvvPY — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) July 7, 2019 In promoting the event, the Tennessee Democratic Party tweeted, “2020 Democratic presidential candidate @BetoORourke will hold a campaign rally at @MMusicWorks in Nashville tomorrow, July 7th at 3 p.m. CT! The event will feature live music from @Elizabeth_Cook and @RaelynNelson Band.” 2020 Democratic presidential candidate @BetoORourke will hold a campaign rally at @MMusicWorks in Nashville tomorrow, July 7th at 3 p.m. CT! The event will feature live music from @Elizabeth_Cook and @RaelynNelson Band. RSVP: https://t.co/WfP0aAVus7 — Tennessee Democratic Party (@tndp) July 6, 2019 The venue was Marathon Music Works on Clinton Street. Music was provided by Elizabeth Cook and the Raelyn Nelson Band. O’Rourke’s campaign billed the visit as his first stop in the Volunteer State. O’Rourke retweeted this tweet: “HAPPENING NOW! @BetoORourke in Nashville, Tennessee! He believes background checks on every gun sale can save lives and recognized @MomsDemand as making a difference across America! #gunsense #tnleg”. https://twitter.com/krayoncolorz/status/1147986578695950336 The Tennessee Holler, a liberal activist site, tweeted a photo with O’Rourke…
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by Evie Fordham Democratic 2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke unveiled a policy plan Monday to improve health care for veterans, including a “war tax” on households without service members or veterans. The “war tax” would feed into what O’Rourke calls the Veterans Health Care Trust Fund for future wars, reported the Texas Tribune. This country must be willing to pay any price and bear any burden to provide the full care, support, and resources to every single veteran who served every single one of us. My new plan will ensure that we finally do. Take a look: https://t.co/Ym9wIkwE5b — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) June 24, 2019 The yearly war tax ranges from $25 to $1,000 based on households’ yearly income, reported CNN. O’Rourke will discuss the new plan at a veterans’ roundtable in Tampa Monday. “We must be willing to pay any price, and bear any burden, to provide the full care, support, and resources to every single veteran who served every single one of us,” O’Rourke said in a statement according to the Texas Tribune. The former Texas congressman has been accused of trading policy proposals for platitudes on the campaign trail. The candidate tried to combat that reputation by releasing policy proposals and…
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Joe Biden is rolling the dice and striking out on his own on the campaign trail, keeping his distance from the other Democratic presidential candidates. Biden appeared at the Human Rights Campaign’s Columbus Dinner Saturday, Cleveland.com said. The gala was at Ohio State University’s Archie Griffin Ballroom. The HRC is the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights organization. In visiting Ohio Saturday, the former vice president, who is the front-runner in his party’s primary race, showed he is not afraid of missing out by not attending the same events as his plethora of competitors, WGME said. Instead, he is focusing on a November 2020 competition against President Donald Trump, as if his primary challengers are not an issue. Also, Biden plans to avoid an Iowa state party dinner that will draw rivals next weekend, although he will visit Iowa two days later, WGME said. And, he will miss a South Carolina economic forum on the black community, although he will attend the state party convention the next weekend. Fourteen of the 23 other Democratic presidential hopefuls attended the California Democratic Convention in San Francisco that Biden skipped. The stakes are big as California has 400 delegates for the national convention up…
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by Peter Hasson EL PASO, Texas — Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke paid roughly $110,000 in campaign funds to a web development company while either he or his wife owned it, public records show. Beto for Texas paid Stanton Street Technology Group $58,544 during the 2011-12 election cycle, $39,060 during the 2013-14 cycle, $9,290 in the 2015-16 cycle and $32,778 during the 2017-18 cycle, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reviewed by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Either O’Rourke or his wife owned Stanton Street — a small web development firm that O’Rourke founded in 1998 — during the vast majority of those payments. Such payments are legal, so long as the campaign is charged for the actual cost of the services, but ethics watchdogs have criticized the practice as a form of self-dealing. O’Rourke’s wife, Amy Sanders O’Rourke, took over Stanton Street as the Texas Democrat entered Congress in January 2013. She controlled it until early 2017. Amy O’Rourke sold her stake in the company on March 31, 2017, according to Beto O’Rourke’s 2017 year-end financial disclosure report. He listed the sale value in the $100,001 to $1 million range. Beto O’Rourke reported between $100,000 and $1…
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During his recent visit to Ohio, 2020 Democratic hopeful Beto O’Rourke slammed President Donald Trump for his criticisms of Lordstown union leader David Green. Green is president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, which represents the workers at Lordstown’s General Motors plant. After the plant was unallocated earlier this month, Trump said Green “ought to get his act together and produce.” “The president with his actions has added insult to injury,” O’Rourke told NBC in a recent interview after meeting one-on-one with Green. “Not only has he done nothing to prevent this job loss, he actually blames the workers and their leadership in the UAW president here in 1112 for something GM and his administration caused.” O’Rourke went on to suggest that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act “financed GM’s ability” to “move jobs elsewhere” and to “choose their shareholders over the community that has created their value.” “Not only has President Trump failed in his commitment and failed this town of Lordstown, he’s also done nothing to reverse the losses that we’ve seen here,” O’Rourke continued. O’Rourke said, as president, he would make sure the country’s “trade policies and our tax code” don’t “incentivize offshoring these jobs.” “GM pays…
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by Kevin Daley A growing number of Democratic presidential candidates are entertaining a push to add seats to the Supreme Court, as Republican success at filling the courts with judicial conservatives has infuriated progressive voters. Democratic presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, Pete Buttigieg, and Kirsten Gillibrand have expressed willingness to consider proposals for expanding the composition of the Supreme Court as of this writing. The Trump campaign charged that those suggestions, called court-packing, keeps with other structural reforms to the U.S. political system some Democrats have endorsed since the 2016 election. “This is just what the Democrats always do,” the Trump campaign told TheDCNF. “When they lose, they try to change the rules. This is no different from when they attack the Electoral College every time they lose the White House. Now it’s court-packing. They want to change our institutions to fit their own political desires.” Another presidential candidate, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, advanced a more modest proposition. Speaking Monday night on MSNBC, the senator said term limits for Supreme Court justices might be appropriate, but he seemed reluctant to endorse expansion of the Court. Democrats frame the issue as a credibility…
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U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) says he will introduce a constitutional amendment to halt Democrats’ desire to pack the Supreme Court in a maneuver hearkening back to progressive president FDR. Green on Tuesday tweeted, “This Thursday, I will be introducing a constitutional amendment that would limit the number of Supreme Court justices to 9 – the number of seats since 1869. The Supreme Court must remain a fair and impartial branch of government not beholden to party.” This Thursday, I will be introducing a constitutional amendment that would limit the number of Supreme Court justices to 9 — the number of seats since 1869. The Supreme Court must remain a fair and impartial branch of government not beholden to party. https://t.co/QoHZZyIpb6 — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) March 19, 2019 Green also tweeted, “Schemes to pack the court are dangerous to the Founders’ vision of an independent judiciary that serves as a check on both the Executive and Legislative branches of government.” Schemes to pack the court are dangerous to the Founders' vision of an independent judiciary that serves as a check on both the Executive and Legislative branches of government. — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) March 19, 2019 The…
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2020 Democratic hopeful Beto O’Rourke slammed President Donald Trump for his criticisms of Lordstown union leaders and defended late-term abortions during a campaign stop in Cleveland Monday. During one stop, O’Rourke was asked how he was “going to protect the lives of third-trimester babies.” “There’s really not a medical necessity for abortion. It’s not a medical emergency procedure because typically third-trimester abortions take up to three days to have. So, in that sense, if there was an emergency, the doctors would just do a c-section and you don’t have to kill the baby. So are you for or against third-trimester abortions?” an audience member asked. O’Rourke, however, framed the question to the audience as being about “abortion and reproductive rights.” “My answer to you is: that should be a decision that the woman makes. I trust her,” O’Rourke responded. Here’s Beto O’Rourke at a campaign event in Cleveland responding to a question about third-trimester abortions: “That should be a decision that the woman makes. I trust her.” pic.twitter.com/nBrlazlMob — Alexandra DeSanctis Marr (@xan_desanctis) March 18, 2019 O’Rourke also responded to Trump’s latest criticism of the leaders behind the closure of the General Motors factory in Lordstown. “Democrat UAW Local 1112…
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Monday, 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke made his first appearance in the Buckeye State. It’s safe to say that former Congressman was hoping the visit could shake off what has been somewhat of a mixed campaign rollout. The Republican National Committee (RNC) Spokesperson Mandi Merritt was quick to note that: It’s been a rough few days for 2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke. From his campaign turning into an apology tour less than 48 hours after announcing, to flip-flopping on the issues and his past GOP ties, O’Rourke is going to have a tough time living up to his party’s litmus tests and convincing the progressive base that he should be their nominee. While the RNC has made their feelings about Beto’s presidential campaign clear, the onetime Senate candidate has now earned bipartisan criticism. Within the first few days of announcing his campaign, Beto committed a litany of gaffes, political faux pas, and some minor scandals. His campaign announcement, coinciding with what was intended to be a glowing Vanity Fair cover story about his intent to run. He stated “I’m just born to be in it,” which was met with widespread criticism from progressive opinion leaders, accusing him of abusing his “privilege.” Many criticized the media for sexist coverage, as he received a far more positive media…
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by Henry Rodgers Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a 2020 hopeful, took an apparent swipe at fellow contender Beto O’Rourke, saying while she respects the former congressman, she was not “born” to run for president. “It was probably more when I got to college. When I was growing up, in high school, that’s not what girls thought they were going to do,” Klobuchar said in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “My parents, I think, thought it was a possibility. But I really didn’t. And so for me, it’s something that’s happened over time, as I’ve realized I can do things,” Klobuchar said. “I can get elected to the secretary-treasurer of my high school class. I can move on from there, and so I think it’s something that I didn’t have from birth.” Host Chuck Todd asked if she was referencing O’Rourke’s comment that he feels he was “born to be in” the 2020 presidential race, which he said in an interview with Vanity Fair released Wednesday before launching his official bid. “I have a lot of respect for Beto, and it’s great to have some Texas in this race. But no, I wasn’t born to run for office, just because growing…
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by Chris White Beto O’Rourke apologized Friday night for writings the former Texas representative made as a teenager describing fantasies about running over children with a vehicle. “I’m mortified to read it now, incredibly embarrassed, but I have to take ownership of my words,” the Democratic presidential candidate said during a taping of the “Political Party Live” podcast in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Whatever my intention was as a teenager doesn’t matter, I have to look long and hard at my actions, at the language I have used, and I have to constantly try to do better.” His comments come after a report Friday revealed O’Rourke wrote prose when he was a teenager describing a scenario in which he would accelerate a car into a group of children while hearing them scream. The report also showed he was a secret member of a hacking group called the “Cult of the Dead Cow,” which focused on showing people how to hack Microsoft computers. “It’s not anything I’m proud of today, and I mean, that’s — that’s the long and short of it,” he said. “All I can do is my best, which is what I’m trying to do. I can’t control…
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2020 Democratic contenders descended upon Iowa over the weekend, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who made stops in Dubuque, Waterloo, and Independence. “I followed the Mississippi River down from our snowy announcement and ended up in Dubuque! Great conversations with Iowans who are looking forward to 2020,” the Minnesota senator wrote on Twitter. I followed the Mississippi River down from our snowy announcement and ended up in Dubuque! Great conversations with Iowans who are looking forward to 2020. pic.twitter.com/ut8V71DnKW — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) March 16, 2019 Politico’s Elena Schneider was on the ground following Klobuchar across the state and reported on a humorous gaffe Klobuchar made while visiting Dubuque. “Everyone has to clap for that,” Klobuchar told a crowd gathered for the campaign stop, immediately prompting comparisons on Twitter to Jeb Bush’s infamous “please clap” moment. Klobuchar started the day by stumping for Eric Giddens, the Democratic candidate in a Tuesday State Senate special election who was also joined by Democrat Beto O’Rourke Saturday. .@amyklobuchar in Waterloo for canvass launch for Eric Giddens, State Senate special election candidate. pic.twitter.com/5DUraIogRs — Elena Schneider (@ec_schneider) March 16, 2019 During a stop at a Pizza Ranch in Independence, Klobuchar was asked about the…
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by Molly Prince Former Democratic Texas Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke announced Thursday he is officially running for the presidency in 2020. “This is a defining moment of truth for this country and for every single one of us,” he said in a video announcing his candidacy. “The challenges that we face right now, the interconnected crises in our economy, our democracy and our climate have never been greater.” O’Rourke was defeated by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz during the 2018 midterm election. However, he gained national attention while campaigning after a constituent asked him if he felt that NFL players kneeling for the national anthem was disrespectful to America’s veterans. In a now-viral interaction, O’Rourke disagreed and commended the demonstration. The response lavished praise from the Hollywood elite, spring-boarding the congressman onto the daytime and late night television circuit. I am running to serve you as the next president. The challenges we face are the greatest in living memory. No one person can meet them on their own. Only this country can do that, and only if we build a movement that includes all of us. Say you're in: https://t.co/EKLdkVET2u pic.twitter.com/lainXyvG2n — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 14, 2019 As polls…
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It appears there’s a new buzzword in the ongoing debate over the border wall. Sunday, when asked how he felt about former congressman, and potential 202o presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s proposal to destroy all existing barriers on the Mexico-US border, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown refused to concur with his potential 2020 opponent, citing the need for border security, just not a “long wall.” The term “long wall” seems to be the latest pivot for Democrats who have vehemently opposed President Donald Trump’s planned border wall, yet concede that border security needs to exist. This could be the beginning of the latest divide from within Democratic ranks. While no “long wall” currently extends over the entire length of the 2,000-mile border between Mexico and the U.S., there are almost 600 miles of fences, walls, and other barriers that are currently standing. Some of these barriers go back to the Clinton Administration. The majority of these walls were built specifically in areas with high concentrations of drug trafficking, human trafficking, and illegal entry and assist the understaffed border security agents. Former congressman O’Rourke has asserted that walls kill more people than they save, noting; We know that walls do not save lives. Walls end lives,…In the last ten years,…
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by Molly Prince Former Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke said Thursday he would remove the existing border barrier in his hometown of El Paso if he had the ability to do so, a question proposed to him by his fellow Texan, Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw. Prior to President Donald Trump’s rally in El Paso on Monday, Crenshaw tweeted at O’Rourke, asking “if you could snap your fingers and make El Paso’s border wall disappear, would you?” .@BetoORourke should answer a simple question tonight with respect to the border debate: If you could snap your fingers and make El Paso’s border wall disappear, would you? Because this DHS graph shows that when the wall was built, illegal crossings dropped significantly. pic.twitter.com/JgquXfw2Ee — Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 11, 2019 “Yes, absolutely. I’d take the wall down,” O’Rourke responded to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes when presented with Crenshaw’s question. O’Rourke said since a barrier was constructed on the border through the Secure Fence Act, Americans have not “in any demonstrative way” been made safer. However, Crenshaw’s tweet provided data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which showed illegal border crossings reduced significantly since the wall was in place. He also provided data…
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“Finish the Wall” is President Donald Trump’s slogan, which he brought Monday to El Paso, Texas in a rally to continue his push for the $5.7 billion border wall. Fox News said the president kicked off his 2020 re-election campaign with the El Paso rally. Banners with his slogan adorned the El Paso County Coliseum, where the rally took place at 9 p.m. ET, The Hill said: Trump last week in his State of the Union address used the border city of El Paso as an example of border walls working. He said during the speech that El Paso “used to have extremely high rates of violent crime, one of the highest in the country, and considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities.”Now, with a powerful barrier in place, El Paso is one of our safest cities,” he said. The re-election campaign on Monday released a video with the voices of El Paso residents who have lived in their border community before – and after – the construction of a wall. According to a campaign statement on the video: As one resident in the video recounted, “They put the fence up and ever since then, the crime rate has gone down dramatically.” Another…
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President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign announced Wednesday that it will be holding its first rally of 2019 in El Paso, Texas on February 11. According to the Trump campaign, the rally will mark the president’s first in El Paso and seventh in the state of Texas. “We are please to announced the Make America Great Again rally on Monday, February 11 in El Paso, Texas, featuring President Donald Trump,” said Michael Glassner, chief operating officer of Donald J. Trump for President Inc. “As the president continues his fight to secure our border, there’s no better place to demonstrate that walls work than in El Paso. President Trump looks forward to visiting with the patriots of Texas who are on the front lines of the struggle against open-border Democrats who allow drugs, crime, and sex trafficking all along our border every day,” Glassner added. During his Tuesday night State of the Union address, Trump pointed to El Paso as shining proof that his border wall would work. “The border city of El Paso, Texas, used to have extremely high rates of violent crime—one of the highest in the country, and was considered one of our nation’s most dangerous cities. Now, with…
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by Molly Prince Former President Barack Obama has been reportedly upsetting his two-time running-mate Joe Biden as he meets with other potential Democratic presidential candidates. Obama has been sitting down with prospective Democrats over the past few months as the party searches for a strong challenger to emerge to face President Donald Trump in 2020. He met with Biden as early on as June to discuss his presidential ambitions, reported Politico. In addition to his former vice president, Obama has had one-on-one meetings with a host of other possible contenders including Democrats Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and defeated Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum. He also notably met with Democratic Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke shortly after his defeat to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz — only a week later, O’Rourke publicly revealed he was considering a presidential run despite consistently claiming he definitely will not be running for president. Biden has not yet officially announced his candidacy, but he reignited speculation in December when he referred to himself as the “most qualified person” to take on Trump. “I’ll be as straight with you as I can. I think I’m the most qualified person in the country to be president,” Biden said. “The issues that…
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by Molly Prince Democratic Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke of Texas claimed Friday that the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is the reason why an increasing number of migrants have died as they illegally attempt to cross into the country. “The number of people dying at the U.S.-Mexico border in some years has grown,” O’Rourke said during an El Paso, Texas, town hall. “In some years has grown because it’s connected to that wall that we have already built that pushes people who are at their most desperate and vulnerable to ever-more inhospitable stretches of the Chihuahua Desert.” The Texas congressman explained that the number of people trying to cross the border increased almost 40 percent between 1998 and 2010 after some of the barrier was constructed in the El Paso sector. “The wall in this area was built in 2006, 2007, and 2008,” he continued. “So even though total crossing attempts had decreased, the number of deaths went up.” WATCH: Town Hall https://t.co/ShnZkxDeMU — Rep. Beto O'Rourke (@RepBetoORourke) December 14, 2018 O’Rourke has long argued against a border wall. Following President Donald Trump’s executive order in September to erect an 18-foot steel bollard wall to replace the existing pedestrian…
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by Molly Prince Defeated Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum sat down with former President Barack Obama on Tuesday, launching speculation that he may be another Democrat added to the already long list of those considering a 2020 presidential run. Gillum met with the former president while he was in Washington, D.C., to address the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, according to CNN. While speaking at the event, he dodged answering questions regarding his presidential aspirations. “I’m plan on being married to my wife. That is all I’m planning,” Gillum said. “What I am committed to doing between now and 2020 is doing everything I can to make the state of Florida available and winnable for the Democratic nominee for president.” Prior to his ultimate defeat, Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, faced backlash on a variety of fronts, including his anti-police stances and ties to anti-Israel and anti-Zionist organizations. Gillum‘s campaign had been fraught with scandals from the onset. Tallahassee City Hall has been under FBI investigation since as early as 2015 as part of an ongoing corruption probe. Records were released in October showing that an undercover FBI agent gave him tickets to a Broadway show, undermining his claims that he received the gift from…
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by Hanna Bogorowski A major Democratic fundraiser said party donors are waiting to hear if former Democratic Senate hopeful Beto O’Rourke will be on the ballot in 2020 before they put their money toward other presidential potentials. Mikal Watts, a San Antonio-based lawyer and political fundraiser, told Politico that several Democratic donors and political operatives have reached out to ask if O’Rourke is running after several other presidential hopefuls began to make their fundraising calls in recent weeks. Those imploring about O’Rourke’s possible run have majorly stemmed from Iowa, the “first-in-the-nation” presidential caucus state. “They’re not wanting to sign on to other presidential campaigns until they know whether Beto is going,” Watts said. “And if Beto is running, what good progressive Democrat wouldn’t want to work for Beto O’Rourke?” O’Rourke, who rose to national fame in part by the unquestioned and glowing media coverage he received, is a three-term congressman from Texas who raised over $70 million in his failed campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. “I can tell you that there has not been this kind of level of electric excitement about a candidate since” former President Barack Obama ran in 2008, Watts told Politico. O’Rourke said before the midterm elections that he…
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by Joe Simonson Despite Democrats winning more than enough seats needed to take back the House of Representatives, nearly every candidate running on the far left of who garnered some of the most media attention lost their races Tuesday night. Starting in Florida, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum was narrowly defeated by the solid right-winger Ron DeSantis for governor. Gillum, who ran on expanding Medicaid and raising taxes, faced accusations of being a “socialist” whose heated campaign drew comparisons to the likes of former President Barack Obama. [ RELATED: Andrew Gillum Concedes In Florida Gubernatorial Race ] Stacey Abrams, who received help from high-profile celebrities like Oprah, seems like she could fail to wrestle away the Georgia governor’s mansion from Republicans. Similarly to the race in Florida, Georgia Republicans wrestled with accusations of racism in a fight that received an inordinate amount of media attention. President Donald Trump called Abrams “one of the most extreme, far-left politicians in the country.” Yet, perhaps no candidate received more attention than Beto O’Rourke, who once said he had no problem impeaching the president and once called for the legalization of all narcotics. But the high-profile coverage and tens of millions of dollars in out-of-state…
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by Molly Prince The Dallas Morning News’s editorial board called on Democratic Rep. Robert Beto O’Rourke on Friday to provide clarification regarding where he stands on the migrant caravan that is heading towards the U.S border. O’Rourke, who is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, has been dodging the issue, despite immigration and border security overwhelmingly being the top issues for voters in Texas. Cruz urged reporters on Friday to probe O’Rourke into what he intends to do if elected to the Senate on Nov. 6. “Two basic questions every reporter should ask Beto today,” Cruz tweeted. “(1) should the caravan be allowed to cross illegally into Texas? (Beto refuses to answer.) And (2) did your campaign dollars illegally fund their doing so?” Two basic Qs every reporter should ask Beto today: (1) should the “caravan” be allowed to cross illegally into Texas? (Beto refuses to answer.) And (2) did your campaign dollars illegally fund their doing so? https://t.co/5HcePn3AGs — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 2, 2018 Cruz’s second question was in reference to undercover footage that was released on Thursday by Project Veritas. In the video, O’Rourke’s campaign staff alluded to campaign resources that were being used to assist the migrants…
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by Molly Prince Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke spent millions of dollars on a consulting firm during the final stretch of the campaign despite repeatedly declaring that his campaign would not use any consultants. O’Rourke, who is running for Senate in Texas against incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, has been promoting his campaign as PAC-free, special interest-free and consultant-free since it first kicked off. O’Rourke told The Dallas Morning News in March 2017 he would not utilize poll-testing or be “consulting with consultants” and has repeated that claim at countless rallies and media events. However, filings from the Federal Election Commission, first reported by Fox News Wednesday, show that O’Rourke’s campaign has been paying a consulting firm, Screen Strategies Media, almost $18 million during the last quarter. “We don’t have a pollster, we don’t have consultants. We don’t use focus groups,” O’Rourke told The Dallas Morning News in February. “This is the power of the people, and you have shown so much — so much, so far.” Only a month after O’Rourke spoke to The Dallas Morning News, the Texas Tribune revealed that the El Paso congressman had, in fact, hired two separate consulting firms prior to launching his campaign. At…
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By Molly Prince A lawsuit was filed against Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s campaign Friday alleging the Texas senatorial hopeful sent constituents text messages despite not receiving permission to do so. Sameer Syeed, a resident of Collins County, filed the class action lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas Court, arguing the Beto for Texas campaign violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, reported The Star-Telegram. The lawsuit alleges that Syeed received numerous unsolicited text messages from Beto for Texas and was unable to stop the automated messages despite both replying to the messages and reaching out to the listed phone number, only to get an error message or dial tone, according to The Star-Telegram. The suit further insists the campaign pay at last $500 per text message to the lawsuit’s plaintiffs. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act bans the use of “automated telephone equipment to send texts or calls to a person’s cellphone without their permission except for emergency purposes,” according to The Star-Telegram. This is not the first time O’Rourke’s campaign has faced backlash for claims of inappropriate use of text messages. The campaign came under fire in September for allegedly sending a text message to voters asking for “volunteers to help transport…
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by Nick Givas A Texas sheriff said Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke needs a history lesson, after his comments about law enforcement being the new Jim Crow. “First of all, it doesn’t surprise me, you know. Anybody who’s been arrested as many times as Robert O’Rourke’s been arrested may have some ill will towards the police,” Denton County Sheriff Tracy Murphree said on “Fox & Friends” Friday. “His rhetoric is divisive. It’s insulting and most of all it’s dangerous,” he added. O’Rourke is running for Senate against GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in the upcoming November midterms and made racial accusations about law enforcement, in a Wednesday speech at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. “That system of suspending somebody solely based on the color of their skin, searching that person solely based on the color of their skin, stopping that person solely based on the color of their skin, shooting that person solely based on the color of their skin, throwing the book at that person and letting them rot behind bars solely based on the color of their skin is why some have called this — I think it is an apt description — the new Jim Crow,” O’Rourke said. Murphree said: “There’s been a…
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U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, is prone to fits of hyperbole and spastic verbal outbursts, mostly directed at Republican politicians, seemingly the bane of his existence. There’s that time he warned of a massive outbreak of Ebola if Republicans didn’t expand Medicaid in Tennessee. There’s that time he compared Republicans to Nazi propagandists Joseph Goebbels. Heck, most recently he said Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn should kill herself. But Cohen evidently can’t handle what he throws out, even when what he gets back is sarcasm — and nowhere near the verbal overkill he’s delinquent of. This, according to Twitchy.com this week. Cohen blocked the account of Twitter user Sean Spicier, a parody account and a play on the name of President Donald Trump’s former White House communications front man Sean Spicer. “Our favorite parody account and yours, @Sean_Spicier, seems to have gotten himself blocked by the one and only Rep. Steve Cohen,” the website reported. “Granted, Cohen blocks anyone with a pulse who disagrees with him even slightly but part of us would like to think the representative who wanted to award Peter Strzok the Purple Heart for ****-talking Trump thought for just a moment Spicer himself was busting on…
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Top Democrats running in Texas elections are calling for the decriminalization of illegally crossing the United States border.
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