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Polling at Only 2%, Beto O'Rourke Ends Campaign for 2020 Democratic Nomination

By Joe Setyon November 1, 2019 at 2:57pm

Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke said Friday he’s dropping out of the 2020 Democratic presidential race.

O’Rourke made the announcement on the blogging platform Medium.

“Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully,” O’Rourke wrote.

JUST IN: Former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke is dropping out of the 2020 presidential primary.

— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) November 1, 2019

“My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee. Acknowledging this now is in the best interests of those in the campaign; it is in the best interests of this party as we seek to unify around a nominee; and it is in the best interests of the country.”

O’Rourke went on to blast President Donald Trump.

“I decided to run for President because I believed that I could help bring a divided country together in common cause to confront the greatest set of challenges we’ve ever faced,” O’Rourke wrote.

Are you glad to see O'Rourke drop out?

“I also knew that the most fundamental of them is fear — the fear that Donald Trump wants us to feel about one another; the very real fear that too many in this country live under; and the fear we sometimes feel when it comes to doing the right thing, especially when it runs counter to what is politically convenient or popular.”

O’Rourke also said he would support the eventual Democratic nominee.

“We will work to ensure that the Democratic nominee is successful in defeating Donald Trump in 2020. I can tell you firsthand from having the chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them, and I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is,” he wrote.

“And proud to call them President in January 2021, because they will win,” O’Rourke added.

“We must support them in the race against Donald Trump and support them in their administration afterwards, do all that we can to help them heal a wounded country and bring us together in meeting the greatest set of challenges we have ever known.”

O’Rourke, who unsuccessfully challenged Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, was quick to dispel speculation he might run for Senate in Texas again, this time challenging Senate Majority Leader John Cornyn.

“Beto will not be a candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas in 2020,” O’Rourke aide Rob Friedlander told The New York Times.

O’Rourke had failed to gain much traction during his short-lived White House run.

Apparently, his proposals to initiate a so-called mandatory “buyback” of AR-15s and other “assault weapons” weren’t all that popular with voters.

According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, he has just 2 percent support nationwide.

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2020 election, Beto O'Rourke, Democratic primary, Just In, U.S. News

Joe Setyon

Deputy Managing Editor, Editorial

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Joe Setyon was a deputy managing editor for The Western Journal who had spent his entire professional career in editing and reporting. He previously worked in Washington, D.C., as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine.

@JoeSetyon

Joe Setyon was deputy managing editor for The Western Journal with several years of copy editing and reporting experience. He graduated with a degree in communication studies from Grove City College, where he served as managing editor of the student-run newspaper. Joe previously worked as an assistant editor/reporter for Reason magazine, a libertarian publication in Washington, D.C., where he covered politics and wrote about government waste and abuse.

Birthplace

Brooklyn, New York

Topics of Expertise

Sports, Politics