Beto O’Rourke confronts Gov. Abbott in the middle of a press conference on the Uvalde school shooting, saying, “The time to stop the next shooting is right now and you are doing nothing.”
In response, officials on stage call him a “sick son of a b—h” and police escort him out. pic.twitter.com/0YsQp3ZNTO
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 25, 2022
Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke blamed current Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders for the tragic school shooting on Tuesday in Uvalde that left 19 children and two adults dead.
O’Rourke directly confronted Gov. Abbott on Wednesday during a press conference from the small Texas town 80 miles west of San Antonio.
“This is on you,” O’Rourke shouted at the stage, where Abbott was seated. “You said this was not predictable? This is totally predictable when you choose not to do anything.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who was also on the stage, fired back at Beto, “Sit down … you’re out of line in an embarrassing encounter,” later adding, “I can’t believe you’re a sick son of a b**** to come to a place like this to make a political issue.”
O’Rourke was escorted out but he was not done pushing his agenda.
While outside, he told reporters, “these kids died because the governor of the state of Texas, the most powerful man in the state, chose to do nothing.”
“After every one of these, he holds a press conference just like this – and I wish to hell when he came to El Paso that someone would have stood up and held him to account and confronted him and shocked the conscience of this state into doing something,” O’Rourke said.
“Because if we do nothing, we will continue to see this. Year after year, school after school, kid after kid. This is on all of us, every single one of us to do something,” he continued.
On Twitter, O’Rourke told Gov. Abbott that he should cancel his appearance at this weekend’s NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Houston, and urge the organization to hold it “anywhere but Texas.”
Governor Abbott, if you have any decency, you will immediately withdraw from this weekend’s NRA convention and urge them to hold it anywhere but Texas.
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) May 25, 2022
While it’s unclear if Abbott will still speak at NRAAM, what is clear is that the NRA is all systems go for this weekend.
In a post on Twitter, the organization announced that it would gather in Houston, and “reflect on these events, pray for the victims, recognize our patriotic members, and pledge to redouble our commitment to making our schools secure.
— NRA (@NRA) May 25, 2022
Newsweek speculated that O’Rourke’s antics this week could cost him the gubernatorial race this November, as Texas is a state with more than one million gun owners.
Put another way, approximately 45 percent of Texas residents say live in a home with guns, according to RAND.org.
is the News Editor of GunsAmerica.
