2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke admitted to his 2018 Senate campaign staff that he could be a “giant a–hole” after he narrowly lost his race against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, last year.
O’Rourke made the admission in a clip from the HBO documentary “Running with Beto,” which premieres Tuesday.
In the clip, O’Rourke is huddled with his wife, Amy, and campaign staff before delivering his concession speech.
“I just feel very, very lucky, and I love you guys more than you’ll ever know,” he says. “I know I was a giant a–hole to be around sometimes, and you all never allowed my shortcomings to get in the way of running the best campaign this state has ever seen.”
The documentary, according to the Daily Beast, shows O’Rourke scolding campaign staffers for not being prepared. Cynthia Cano, his road manager, received most of the criticism.
O’Rourke expressed frustration over lack of time for media interviews, being late to campaign events, and not be prepped well enough. Cano blamed O’Rourke’s long-winded speeches and schmoozing with constituents as reason for his tardiness.
O’Rourke has since become one of two dozen Democrats vying to be the party’s presidential nominee to take on President Trump in 2020.
A RealClearPolitics average of polls shows O’Rourke in sixth place.
