Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke was confronted by a black voter for his opposition to “traditional reparations” for slavery.
“Why should I, as a black man, vote for you when you oppose reparations?” O’Rourke was asked at a campaign event at USC on Friday, which was posted online Wednesday, according to Mediaite.
A day after O’Rourke announced he was running in the Democratic primaries earlier this month, the Associated Press reported he was not in favor of compensatory payment to descendents of slaves.
O’Rourke did not deny the reports of his stance, and gave a lengthy response that skirted the issue of reparations in favor of other remedies, like talking about systematic racism, racist voter ID laws, and the economic divide between white Americans and black Americans.
“That is the path that I would pursue, after listening to and reflecting on those who are much smarter, and frankly, as a white man, much more experienced in the injustice and the indignities that I just described,” O’Rourke concluded in his more than four-minute answer.
Last week, O’Rourke was also confronted by a man who identified himself as an Afghanistan veteran after the failed Senate candidate said under his presidency he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
“You have the humility of understanding that, as powerful as we are, we cannot determine the internal affairs of other countries,” O’Rourke said at a campaign event in South Carolina.
“I served there,” the man said. “It’s not as easy as just ‘time to go home.’ What’s your plan for getting us out and not leaving the country the shitshow it is.”
Without providing specifics, O’Rourke gave nearly a minute long response about how Americans cannot expect to always succeed.
[Also read: Beto O’Rourke soars, Pete Buttigieg climbing: Poll]
