{"id":126238,"date":"2019-08-04T08:07:09","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T12:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=126238"},"modified":"2019-08-04T08:07:09","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T12:07:09","slug":"as-if-on-cue-beto-orourke-shamelessly-exploits-the-el-paso-terrorist-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=126238","title":{"rendered":"As if on cue Beto O\u2019Rourke shamelessly exploits the El Paso terrorist attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>El Paso Shooting: Beto O\u2019Rourke Reacts By Saying Trump \u201cStokes Racism\u201d<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->By Anita Bennett<br \/>\nDEADLINE<\/p>\n<figure class=\"c-figure  u-border-b-1 u-border-color-grey-medium-light \" data-toaster-activate-trigger=\"\">\n<div class=\"a-glue-parent pmc-u-crop-9x16\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com\/2018\/10\/ap_18296271999578.jpg?w=681&amp;h=383&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"681\" height=\"383\" data-lazy-loaded=\"true\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"c-figure__caption pmc-u-font-family-helvetica pmc-u-padding-tb-025 u-flex u-flex-direction-column\"><span class=\"pmc-u-font-weight-light pmc-u-font-size-12 pmc-u-color-grey-medium-dark\">The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"a-content pmc-u-line-height-copy pmc-u-font-family-georgia pmc-u-font-size-16 pmc-u-font-size-18@desktop\">\n<p>Democratic presidential candidate Beto O\u2019Rourke believes President\u00a0<a id=\"auto-tag_donald-trump\" href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" data-tag=\"donald-trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0shares blame for the\u00a0<a id=\"auto-tag_shooting\" href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/shooting\/\" data-tag=\"shooting\">shooting<\/a>\u00a0rampage in\u00a0<a id=\"auto-tag_el-paso\" href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/el-paso\/\" data-tag=\"el-paso\">El Paso<\/a>, Texas, by repeatedly using rhetoric that \u201cstokes racism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Rourke made the comments Saturday evening after returning to his hometown of El Paso, where 20 people were killed and at least 26 others injured Saturday in a mass shooting at a shopping mall.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED STORY<\/strong>:\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2019\/08\/walmart-shooting-in-texas-leaves-at-least-one-dead-17-injured-1202660577\/\">20 Killed In Shooting At El Paso Shopping Center<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen told reporters the shooting had \u201cthe nexus of a\u00a0<a id=\"auto-tag_hate\" href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/hate\/\" data-tag=\"hate\">hate<\/a>\u00a0crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Police arrested a 21-year-old man from the Dallas area in connection with the carnage. The police chief said investigators had obtained a manifesto and were trying to confirm that it was \u201cfrom the individual that we arrested\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/08\/03\/us\/patrick-crusius-el-paso-shooter-manifesto.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><em>The New York Times<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reported that the hate-filled manifesto made reference to a \u201cHispanic invasion of Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked by reporters if he thinks President Trump has fueled hatred, O\u2019Rourke responded \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had a rise in hate crimes, every single one of the last three years during an administration where you\u2019ve had a president who\u2019s called Mexican citizens \u2018rapist and criminals,\u2019 though Mexican immigrants commit crimes at a far lower rate those born here in the country. He has tried to make us afraid of them,\u201d O\u2019Rourke stated.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Asked if Trump shares any blame for the El Paso shooting Beto O&#39;Rourke says &quot;yes.&quot; &quot;He is a racist and he stokes racism in this country.&quot; Full video: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7XylxcukRl\">https:\/\/t.co\/7XylxcukRl<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JEdN0i8BjR\">pic.twitter.com\/JEdN0i8BjR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; MSNBC (@MSNBC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MSNBC\/status\/1157851382566797312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 4, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The former Texas Congressman then cited examples, including the president\u2019s Muslim ban, and his comments about Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley; who Trump said should go back to their \u201ccrime infested\u201d countries after the women criticized the administration\u2019s immigration policies.<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Rourke said Trump\u2019s words and actions have consequences, and mentioned one of the president\u2019s recent rallies as an example.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose chants that we heard in Greenville, North Carolina, \u2018send her back,\u2019 talking about our fellow American citizens elected to represent their constituents in the Congress, who happen to be women of color, he is a racist and he stokes racism in this country,\u201d O\u2019Rourke said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has defended himself against recent racism charges, saying in a recent tweet that he is the \u201cleast racist person in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2019\/08\/el-paso-shooting-beto-orourke-reacts-by-saying-trump-stokes-racism-1202660688\/\">El Paso Shooting: Beto O\u2019Rourke Reacts By Saying Trump \u201cStokes Racism\u201d \u2013 Deadline<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>El Paso Shooting: Beto O\u2019Rourke Reacts By Saying Trump \u201cStokes Racism\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126238\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}