Beto O’Rourke Drops Out Of Presidential Race, Donald Trump Immediately Taunts Him
Former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas is dropping out of the presidential race.
The Democratic White House hopeful made the announcement on Friday, in a blog post published on Medium.
“Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully,” he wrote, explaining that he believes him dropping out is “in the best interest” of members of his campaign, the Democratic Party, and the United States.
The former Texas representative wrote that he is proud of his campaign, and the vision he had offered to American voters, touting his messaging on gun reform, climate change, systemic racism, and violence.
“We will work to ensure that the Democratic nominee is successful in defeating Donald Trump in 2020,” O’Rourke said, adding that he will be “proud” to support whoever the voters pick in the end.
Democrats will win in 2020, he wrote, vowing to support the next president’s administration.
“Thank you for making this campaign possible, and for continuing to believe that we can turn this moment of great peril into a moment of great promise for America and the world,” he concluded the post.
According to The New York Times, O’Rourke made the decision to drop out earlier this week, and he will not run for any other office in 2020, despite the fact that party insiders have long insisted that he launches another bid for the U.S. Senate.
As the publication notes, O’Rourke rose to national prominence during the 2018 midterm elections, and entered the presidential primary race as one of the perceived front-runners. His presidential campaign failed to catch on, however, despite the fact that he released a number of ambitious policy proposals.
BREAKING: Beto O'Rourke has dropped out of the presidential race.
He is not expected to run for any other office in 2020. pic.twitter.com/3qYq0D345K
— Vox (@voxdotcom) November 1, 2019
Notably, O’Rourke proposed a mandatory assault weapons buyback, and embraced the idea of cash reparations for descendants of slaves.
None of this helped O’Rourke sway Democratic primary voters, and less-known candidates such as South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang have managed to surpass him in the polls.
President Donald Trump has already weighed in on O’Rourke ending his campaign, mocking and belittling the Democrat. In a Twitter message published minutes after O’Rourke’s statement, the president gleefully taunted the El Paso native.
Oh no, Beto just dropped out of race for President despite him saying he was “born for this.” I don’t think so!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2019
The president reacted similarly in August, when Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand dropped out of the race. Via Twitter, Trump insulted and mocked Gillibrand, joking that “she was the one I was really afraid of!”
During rally speeches, Trump has insulted and mocked virtually all prominent Democrats running for president, especially former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.
The president has made a number of disparaging statements about Biden, insulting members of his family. The commander-in-chief also used the power of his office to pressure the government of Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, which Democrats claim is an impeachable offense.
According to Trump, news networks will endorse him over any Democrat, because their ratings would decline with someone like Warren as president.
Polling suggests that the Democratic primary has become a three-way race, with Biden, Warren, and Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders miles ahead of the rest of the field.
