Kayleigh McEnany: Beto's outburst was one of the most shameful things I've seen
'Outnumbered' panelists weigh in after Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke interrupted Gov. Abbott's press conference following the mass shooting in Uvalde Tuesday.
Democrat Beto O'Rourke's viral confrontation with Texas state officials at a press conference addressing this week's mass shooting won him plaudits from mainstream media members.
O'Rourke criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who he's challenging this year in the gubernatorial race, as he began speaking at Uvalde High School, in the same town where a gunman perpetrated one of the worst school shootings in American history, killing 19 grade-schoolers and two other teachers.
"The time to stop the next shooting is right now, and you are doing nothing," O’Rourke said, pointing his finger. "You’re offering us nothing." Before he was escorted out of the auditorium, he turned back to Abbott to say "this will continue to happen."
As he first spoke, O'Rourke was shouted down by people flanking Abbott, including Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin, the latter of whom called him a "sick son of a b---h." O'Rourke supports aggressive gun control measures, and he famously said when he ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination that he wanted mandatory buybacks of AR-15s and other assault weapons.
Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke walks outside Uvalde High School, the day after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, U.S. May 25, 2022. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)
On ABC's "The View," the hosts were laudatory of O'Rourke's behavior on Thursday, which the Wall Street Journal editorial board referred to as a "stunt that could make or break his campaign."
"Beto O'Rourke, whether it's performative or not – by the way, who in D.C. isn't performative?" co-host Sara Haines said. "Marched in there and calmly said, ‘Enough is enough.’ I appreciated it, I was here for it."
"I'd like to see some of that energy around gun safety," co-host Sunny Hostin said, who was outraged at the officials who were angry with O'Rourke's interruption. "He was saying the right things."
"Everything that Beto said, everything that he said to those reporters is supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans. That’s what’s really sick here," "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough remarked on Thursday, calling Abbott and the others on the stage "freaks."
BETO O'ROURKE CRITICIZES ABBOTT FOR ATTENDING CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISER AFTER TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace criticized the Republicans who shouted down O'Rourke as he interrupted the presser.
Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke disrupts a press conference held by Governor Greg Abbott the day after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, U.S. May 25, 2022. (REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas)
"If that’s how they treat Beto O’Rourke, who was a member of Congress now running for governor, you have to wonder what’s going on down there," Wallace said.
On "CBS Mornings," host Gayle King portrayed O'Rourke as a representative of the public's wider dismay with lawmaker inaction on gun laws, following co-host Tony Dokoupil's emotional interview with the stepfather of one of the young victims.
UVALDE MAYOR CONDEMNS BETO O'ROURKE'S OUTBURST
"Many Americans as you see are frustrated with a capital F at the lack of government action following these attack, and one familiar political figure in Texas brought his frustration to Uvalde yesterday," King said. "That’s Democratic candidate for governor Beto O’Rourke, who confronted Republican governor Greg Abbott accusing him of doing nothing."
Left-leaning publications Mother Jones and Vogue declared O'Rourke was "right" in headlines.
"We want the people we elect to represent us to pass sensible gun legislation that will make it harder for our children and their teachers to be slaughtered in their classrooms—and if they can’t or won’t, they shouldn’t enjoy the privilege of uninterrupted public appearances," Vogue's Emma Specter wrote.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference in Uvalde, Texas Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
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"Ultimately, the question of whether his intervention Wednesday was polite or not is less important than the fact that O’Rourke is right. The effect, if not the outright point, of events like the one he crashed is to ensure that the right time and the place to discuss gun control never comes—to indulge the delusion that the people who are truly doing nothing are actually doing something," Mother Jones reporter Tim Murphy wrote.