Beto O'Rourke tells CNN's Jake Tapper he thinks Trump is a white nationalist following shootings


Back-to-back mass shootings this weekend in El Paso and Dayton have inspired new calls for increased gun regulations, but it's not just the NRA and the Second Amendment that have drawn people's ire.
Several people have placed the blame on President Trump's rhetoric, especially in reference to the El Paso shooting. The suspected gunman, a 21-year-old white male named Patrick Crusius, may have written an online manifesto that described an attack on the border city in response to "the Hispanic invasion of Texas." Trump has spoken in similar terms about the influx of migrants at the southern border, which his administration is trying to curb through construction of a border wall and government raids.
Presidential candidates Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), former Housing Secretary Julián Castro, and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), who hails from El Paso, said Trump was responsible for the incidents, and O'Rourke said that he believes Trump is a white nationalist.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Conservative analysts haven't shied away from questioning whether Trump's language played a role in the shootings, either.
Trump condemned the shooting, but did not make any mention of the alleged manifesto. Following a mass shooting in New Zealand in March, which was carried out by a white supremacist, Trump said only a small group of people were white nationalists.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Trump’s budget bill will increase the deficit. Does it matter?
Today's Big Question Analysts worry a 'tipping point' is coming
-
Film reviews: The Phoenician Scheme, Bring Her Back, and Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
Feature A despised mogul seeks a fresh triumph, orphaned siblings land with a nightmare foster mother, and a Jane fan finds herself in a love triangle
-
Music reviews: Tune-Yards and PinkPantheress
Feature "Better Dreaming" and "Fancy That"
-
Elon Musk slams Trump's 'pork-filled' signature bill
speed read 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,' Musk posted on X
-
'We need solutions that prioritize both safety and sustainability'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
A running list of all the celebrities Trump has pardoned
IN DEPTH Reality stars, rappers and disgraced politicians have received some of the high-profile pardons doled out by the president
-
'The pattern is similar across America'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain