August 5, 2019

Beto O’Rourke Tears Into Trump for Inciting Anti-Immigrant Violence

“He’s not tolerating violence, he’s inciting racism and violence in this country.”

Josh Bachman/Zuma

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When a reporter asked Beto O’Rourke on Sunday if Donald Trump could do anything “to make this any better” following a mass shooting in El Paso that killed 20 and injured 26 others, the Democratic presidential candidate and former Texas congressman lashed out against the president for inciting violence—and against the press for glossing over the connection between Trump’s hateful rhetoric and mass shootings.

“You know the shit he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals,” O’Rourke, who lives in El Paso, said. “Members of the press, what the fuck?…Connect the dots about what he’s been doing in this country.”

The El Paso shooter posted an anti-immigrant manifesto to the online message board 8chan before the attack. O’Rourke suggested that Trump’s repeated use of racist, xenophobic language contributed to the massacre.

“He’s not tolerating racism, he’s promoting racism,” O’Rourke said. “He’s not tolerating violence, he’s inciting racism and violence in this country.”

Watch O’Rourke’s full response below:

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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