Beto O’Rourke said he will remain in El Paso, Texas, while other 2020 presidential candidates descend on the Iowa State Fair in an effort to amplify their messages ahead of the caucuses early next year.
O’Rourke left the campaign trail to return to his hometown after a gunman killed at least 22 people at a Walmart on Saturday.
“No part of me right now is thinking about politics, is thinking about any campaign or election. All of me is with and thinking about this community,” O’Rourke told reporters Wednesday. “[I’m] going to be here to be with my hometown and to do anything I can to be helpful. That’s where we’re going to keep the focus.”
.@CNN reports that @BetoORourke isn’t coming to the Iowa State Fair, as scheduled. He will remain in El Paso following the mass shooting there on Saturday. #IAPolitics #iacaucus pic.twitter.com/eH8qdBS2J1
— Sarah Beckman (@SarahBeckman3) August 7, 2019
The former Texas congressman held back tears while speaking to reporters over the weekend and expressed frustration with the press when asked if there was anything President Trump could do in the aftermath of the shooting.
“What do you think? You know the shit he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don’t know, like, members of the press, what the f—?” O’Rourke said.
Staying behind could be a make or break moment for the presidential candidate who has struggled to recapture the viral success he had in the early days of his campaign.
O’Rourke was scheduled to appear at nearly a dozen events in Iowa on Friday and Saturday.
