Beto O’Rourke disrupted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s press conference on the Uvalde school shooting on Wednesday, prompting Republicans alongside the governor to shout down his Democratic challenger and call him a “sick son of a bitch.”
As members of the audience shouted “go home,” attendees of the presser could be heard yelling “you are out of line” to O’Rourke as he walked up to the stage to confront the governor.
“You are doing nothing,” he asserted as he approached Abbott.
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“This is on you until you choose to do something different,” O’Rourke, an outspoken gun-control advocate, said at one point. “This will continue to happen. Somebody needs to stand up for the children of this state or they will continue to be killed just like they were killed in Uvalde yesterday.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), standing behind Abbott, told the Democratic gubernatorial hopeful to “sit down” while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called him an “embarrassment.” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin asked security to “get his ass out” of the press conference.
“Sir, you are out of line! Please leave this auditorium,” McLaughlin yelled. “I can’t believe you are a sick son of a bitch that would come to a deal like this to make a political issue... It’s on assholes like you! Why don’t you get out of here?!”
As security began to escort O’Rourke from the presser, some people in attendance shouted “go home.” At the same time, others could be heard chanting “let him speak.”
Speaking to reporters following the dramatic confrontation, O‘Rourke was unapologetic and defended his actions as speaking out for parents who’ve lost children in mass shootings.
“We owe those parents action,” the ex-congressman said. “I’ve talked to the parents in El Paso, in Santa Fe high school, in Midland, Odessa. They want us to do something right now. If we continue to accept this, it is on us. It’s not just the governor’s fault, it’s on us. I could care less whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent, I’m asking you to stand up for ourselves, our kids, our families and to stop the next shooting just like this one.”
He also called out Abbott’s “fealty” to the National Rifle Association while noting that the governor is still scheduled to appear at the gun lobby’s annual convention later this week.
“He goes to the NRA convention to brag about how easy he's made it to buy guns and to carry them,” he declared. “It is insane when the government talks about mental health. It’s insane that we allow an 18-year-old to go in and buy a gun. What the hell did we think he was going to do with that? that's on us.”
Meanwhile, back at the press conference, the Texas Republicans continued to blast O’Rourke over his outburst.
“There are family members, there are family members who are crying as we speak, there are family members whose hearts are broken, there is no words that anybody shouting can come up here and do anything to heal those broken hearts,” Abbott groused. “We need to focus not on ourselves and our agendas.”
Piggybacking on Abbott’s comments, Patrick said that “there will be plenty of time to discuss and analyze what happened yesterday and do everything that we can within our power to hopefully prevent it from happening again.”
He added: “But now is a time people watching around the world in this country and this state to focus on these families as the governor just said.”
