Beto O’Rourke: Voting in 2020 may be the “best way for us to resolve” Trump

FAN Editor

“CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King spoke with Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke Thursday afternoon in his first national interview since he announced his White House bid.

King interviewed the former Texas congressman in Burlington, Iowa, after O’Rourke attended his third campaign event in Iowa on the first day of a three-day swing. More of the interview will air on CBSN and “CBS Evening News,” and the full interview will air on “CBS This Morning” on Friday.

O’Rourke on impeaching Trump

During his 2018 Senate campaign to unseat Ted Cruz, O’Rourke said that he believed President Trump should be impeached. King asked him today, “Do you still feel that way?”

“It’s beyond a shadow of a doubt to me that, if there was not collusion, there was at least the effort to collude with a foreign power, beyond the shadow of a doubt that if there was not obstruction of justice, there certainly was the effort to obstruct justice,” O’Rourke replied. Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied colluding with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

O’Rourke said Mr. Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey in 2017 and his tweeting to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end the Russia investigation were potential examples of obstruction of justice.

But he said that the decision to impeach Mr. Trump was up to Congress, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week that she opposes impeachment because it would be too divisive. O’Rourke now seems to believe there may be another way of removing the president.

“How Congress chooses to address those set of facts and the findings which I believe [we] are soon to see from the Mueller report is up to them,” O’Rourke told King. “I think the American people are going to have a chance to decide this at the ballot box in November 2020, and perhaps that’s the best way for us to resolve these outstanding questions.”

O’Rourke responds to Trump’s comment that he has “a lot of hand movement”

At a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at the White House Thursday, Mr. Trump told reporters that he thinks O’Rourke is overly expressive with his hands while talking.

“Well I think he’s got a lot of hand movement, I’ve never seen so much hand movement,” the president told reporters. “I said is he crazy or is that just the way he acts? So I’ve never seen hand movement — I watched him a little while this morning – doing I assume it was some kind of a news conference. And I’ve actually never seen anything quite like it. Study it. I’m sure you’ll agree.”

O’Rourke was unapologetic about speaking with his hands in his interview with King.

“I’m pretty animated,” O’Rourke acknowledged, saying that someone had once told him on the campaign trail for the Senate that he used his hands too much. “I am who I am,” O’Rourke said.

“And I really do think we all want to get past the pettiness, the personal attacks,” O’Rourke said, indicating his philosophy towards campaigning. “Let’s not put anybody down. Instead, let’s lift each other up. Let’s bring out the absolute best from our fellow Americans — every single one of them from every single community.”

O’Rourke jumps into presidential race

O’Rourke made his presidential run official with an online video released Thursday morning. Seated on a couch next to his wife, O’Rourke announced, “Amy and I are happy to share with you that I am running to serve you as the next president of the United States of America.”

He said that the crises in our economy, democracy and climate “will either consume us or they will afford us the greatest opportunity to unleash the genius of the United States of America.” O’Rourke went through a list of Democratic priorities, including health care, climate change, family separation and criminal justice reform, gesturing or chopping with his hands to emphasize each point.

O’Rourke said that he plans to travel the country and “listen to those who I seek to serve, to understand from your perspective how we can best meet these challenges.”

“At this moment of maximum peril and maximum potential let’s show ourselves and those who will succeed us in this great country just who we are and what we can do.”

— Caitlin Huey-Burns

Who is Beto O’Rourke?

Here’s what you need to know about the latest candidate to enter the crowded and diverse Democratic primary race:

Biography

  • Although his legal first name is Robert, he has been known as Beto, the nickname Spanish-speaking communities give names that end in “berto,” like Roberto and Alberto, since childhood.
  • He was an avid musician as a teenager and was part of various rock bands, including the El Paso-based punk group Foss after graduating from Columbia University in New York in 1995.
  • O’Rourke spent several years working in start-up companies and civic groups when he returned to El Paso from New York City.
  • After working on several local political campaigns, O’Rourke ran for the El Paso City Council in 2005 and defeated a two-term incumbent.
  • In 2012, O’Rourke, who speaks fluent Spanish, announced his candidacy for the Democratic primary in the race to represent Texas 16th Congressional District, a Latino-majority district encompassing El Paso and the surrounding communities.
  • While in Congress, O’Rourke compiled a moderate voting record during his three terms, where he served on the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees.

Senate campaign

  • O’Rourke launched a long-shot, insurgent campaign to oust Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. His robust Senate bid in Texas — along with his Obama-esque oratory powers and social media dominance on the campaign trail — catapulted him to national fame.
  • O’Rourke shattered fundraising records, galvanized a broad electoral coalition in Texas, including the state’s large and growing Latino community, and lost by less than three percentage points.
  • Although he told “60 Minutes” shortly before the election that he was “completely ruling out” running for president for 2020, O’Rourke admitted shortly after the election that he had become open to the idea.

Issues

  • In his six years in Congress, O’Rourke supported the legalization of marijuana, investing in clean energy like solar and wind to combat climate change, more expansive gun control legislation, LGBT rights and had a pro-choice stance on abortion rights.
  • O’Rourke strongly supports legislation to put young undocumented immigrants, known as DREAMers, on a pathway to U.S. citizenship, and is a harsh critic of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

— Caitlin Huey-Burns

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