Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke has no questions about what led to this past weekend's mass shootings.
After 20 people were killed in his hometown of El Paso, Texas and another nine were killed in Dayton, Ohio, the Democratic presidential candidate passionately told reporters that President Trump is "inciting racism and violence in this country." And in two Monday morning show appearances, he definitely didn't backtrack.
O'Rourke first appeared on ABC News' This Week, where White House correspondent Jon Karl asked if O'Rourke was saying Trump "bears responsibility for what we just saw in El Paso." "I am," O'Rourke responded, bringing up how Trump has labeled Mexicans as "rapists and criminals" and saying he "encourages the kind of open racism ... that we saw here in El Paso, Texas."
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.
O'Rourke got even more heated during his Morning Joe spot, comparing Trump's rhetoric surrounding Mexicans and Muslims to "the Third Reich" of "Nazi Germany." He then described how fed up he was with questions of whether Trump is racist. "Jesus Christ, of course he's racist," O'Rourke said. "He's been racist since day one — before day one." Kathryn Krawczyk
-
The 8 best sci-fi series of all timethe week recommends Imagining — and fearing — the future continues to give us compelling and thoughtful television
-
The Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the Department of EducationThe Explainer The president aims to fulfill his promise to get rid of the agency
-
‘These attacks rely on a political repurposing’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
