Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke confronted Governor Greg Abbott during a press conference discussing the Uvalde school shooting that left 19 students and two faculty members dead. Mr O’Rourke was tossed out of the press conference after a heated argument between himself, the Uvalde mayor, and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
Mr Abbott had just finished saying that mental health problems in the community were the cause of the shooting rather than the proliferation of guns throughout the US.
Though it is not entirely clear what Mr O’Rourke said, he did tell Mr Abbott that the shooting was “on him”, that it was “totally predictable”, and that Mr Abbott was “doing nothing”, which prompted the Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin to scream at him that he was “out of line”.
During the exchange, someone in the auditorium yelled “let him talk” as officers surrounded him to have him escorted out of the venue.
Mr Patrick also jumped in, telling Mr O’Rourke he was “out of line and an embarrassment”.
As Mr O’Rourke continued to chastise the governor, Mr McLaughlin called him a “sick son of a b****” who would “come to a deal like this to make a political issue”.
Before leaving, Mr O’Rourke turned and said “this is on you”, to which the mayor said that the shooting was on “a***holes like you”.
No one on the stage during Mr Abbott’s conference addressed gun proliferation as a potential driver of mass shootings.
Mr O’Rourke slammed Mr Abbott earlier this year for signing a bill into law allowing Texans to carry handguns without permits or training.
He previously said that the governor “turned his back on [law enforcement] when he signed that permitless carry bill that endangers the lives of law enforcement in a state that’s seen more cops and sheriff’s deputies gunned down than in any other.”
Mr O’Rourke’s stance on gun control has shifted since his 2019 presidential run. During a primary debate, he said he supported a mandatory federal assault weapon buy-back program.
“Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” Mr O’Rourke said. “We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.”
However, ahead of his gubernatorial bid in Texas, he softened his tone somewhat, saying he wasn’t supporting taking anyone’s guns and that he wanted to protect the Second Amendment while pushing for more robust gun control.
“I’m not interested in taking anything from anyone,” Mr O’Rourke said, according to KLTV, a Texas broadcaster. “What I want to make sure that we do is defend the Second Amendment. I want to make sure that we protect our fellow Texans far better than we’re doing right now. And that we listen to law enforcement, which Greg Abbott refused to do.”
