Beto O’Rourke penned a Tuesday op-ed for CNN in which he argued media outlets that do not criticize President Trump as much as he thinks they should are sowing “seeds of terror.”
O’Rourke also regarded Trump as being largely responsible for the Aug. 3 shooting in El Paso, Texas. “When a white terrorist drove more than 600 miles to hunt and kill Hispanic people in my hometown, he followed a path of vile inspiration that reaches from the darkest chapters of our history and runs directly to the White House today,” O’Rourke wrote.
The former congressman further dismissed the president’s suggestion that mental illness and violent video games could be partially responsible for the shooting that took the lives of 22 people at a Walmart in the West Texas city. “When President Donald Trump describes Mexican immigrants as ‘rapists’ and ‘bringing crime,’ or refers to undocumented immigrants as individuals who ‘infest our country’ — he speaks not as America’s President but as an emissary of hate. And his vilification and fear-mongering connect with those who are open to receiving it.”
O’Rourke then specifically named several media outlets he felt were responsible for emboldening supporters of white supremacy and anti-immigrant rhetoric. “The seeds of terror we saw that August day are transmitted day and night on Fox News, the most watched cable news channel in the country,” he said. “They are amplified by right-wing websites like Breitbart, and in messages forced onto local news broadcasts by Sinclair Media.”
“Every media outlet that covers Trump’s rallies uncritically is serving dangerous ends,” O’Rourke continued. “This language of fear and intimidation is not, as some would have it, simply political theater; it actually changes our behavior.”
Further criticizing Trump’s immigration policies and his supporters for stirring up divisiveness and hate, O’Rourke concluded his op-ed with an assertion that he would not “quit” on any Americans. “I believe El Paso can light our path forward, even as America now stands in sympathy and solidarity in its hour of heartbreak and anger,” he said. “But for good to prevail, we need to bring every single one of us in. That means refusing to let hate win or to quit on our fellow Americans.”
