Houston Paper Calls For Beto To Drop Out

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.

The Houston Chronicle editorial implored the candidate, a former Texas representative for Texas’ 16th District from 2013-2019, to drop out of the race to focus on state priorities, including how to grapple with the recent mass shooting in El Paso that killed 20, according to the article.

“There are times, it seems, in most presidential campaigns when the facades get stripped away like so many layers of paint,” the editorial said.

“Something like that happened last Sunday with O’Rourke,” it continued, referring to O’Rourke’s answer to a question about what President Donald Trump should do to “cool the atmosphere of hate toward immigrants” in the wake of the shooting.

“You know the s*** he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don’t know. … Like, members of the press — what the f***? It’s these questions that you know the answers to …” O’Rourke said, according to the Chronicle.

The editorial said the answer wasn’t necessarily presidential, but that its “unscripted” nature erased any offensive aspects that might have typically been observed.

“We aren’t used to seeing candidates act like real people,” the Chronicle added.

The paper asked O’Rourke to change the direction of his campaign and move toward the U.S. Senate instead of merely dropping his presidential bid.

“So Beto, if you’re listening: Come home. Drop out of the race for president and come back to Texas to run for senator. The chances of winning the race you’re in now are vanishingly small. And Texas needs you,” the editorial concluded.

O’Rourke is averaging two percent in the latest Real Clear Politics polling for the likelihood of the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.