President Trump mocked 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke ahead of the president’s visit to El Paso, Texas, telling the former congressman to “be quiet.”
O’Rourke, whose hometown is El Paso, where 22 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart on Saturday, said earlier this week that Trump should not visit in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“We do not need more division. We need to heal. He has no place here,” O’Rourke said.
Trump hit back late Tuesday: “Beto (phony name to indicate Hispanic heritage) O’Rourke, who is embarrassed by my last visit to the Great State of Texas, where I trounced him, and is now even more embarrassed by polling at 1% in the Democrat Primary, should respect the victims & law enforcement – & be quiet!”
O’Rourke then blamed Trump’s rhetoric for inspiring the suspect, who posted a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto before the massacre.
“El Paso will not be quiet and neither will I,” he said.
22 people in my hometown are dead after an act of terror inspired by your racism. El Paso will not be quiet and neither will I. https://t.co/dakFPKj0vJ
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 7, 2019
The president and first lady Melania Trump are visiting victims in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, where another gunman killed nine people over the weekend. Trump may face protests in both cities.
