O'Rourke drops out of 2020 presidential race
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke announced Friday that he will no longer seek the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
Our campaign has always been about seeing clearly, speaking honestly, and acting decisively.
In that spirit: I am announcing that my service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee. https://t.co/8jrBPGuX4t— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) November 1, 2019
“Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully,” O’Rourke wrote in a post on Medium. “My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee. Acknowledging this now is in the best interests of those in the campaign; it is in the best interests of this party as we seek to unify around a nominee; and it is in the best interests of the country.”
While O’Rourke, a native of El Paso, came close to defeating incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, he has resisted efforts by members of the Democratic Party to get him to run again in his home state against Sen. John Cornyn.
O’Rourke’s 2020 bid quickly flagged in a crowded field of more experienced presidential contenders. Following a mass shooting in El Paso in August, he made gun control a central issue of his campaign, vowing to initiate mandatory buybacks of assault weapons in addition to a nationwide ban on their sale if he was elected.
O’Rourke declined to endorse another Democrat in the race but vowed to help the eventual nominee defeat President Trump in the general election.
“We will work to ensure that the Democratic nominee is successful in defeating Donald Trump in 2020,” he wrote. “I can tell you firsthand from having the chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them, and I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is.”
Current frontrunner Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., thanked O’Rourke for focusing on gun violence during his campaign.
Thank you, @BetoORourke. Your commitment to ending gun violence and uplifting the voices of the victims and their families has made this presidential race—and our country—stronger. I look forward to working together in the fight to end gun violence.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 1, 2019
Trump, who often mocks O’Rourke at his own reelection rallies, made sure to do so one more time following O’Rourke’s announcement.
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
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