Beto O'Rourke calls Trump a white supremacist: "He poses a mortal threat to people of color"

O'Rourke discussed the epidemic of racism during Thursday evening’s Democratic debate in Houston

Published September 13, 2019 12:01PM (EDT)

Beto O'Rourke; Donald Trump (AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez/Getty/Chip Somodevilla)
Beto O'Rourke; Donald Trump (AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez/Getty/Chip Somodevilla)

This article originally appeared on Raw Story
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Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (R-TX) ripped the “white supremacist in the White House” during Thursday evening’s Democratic debate in Houston, Texas.

“Since we’re here at an HBCU, I’d like to start with young black voters. Several recent polls indicate their number one concern is racism. This campus, this state, and this nation are still raw from that racially motivated attack on Latinos in El Paso,” moderator Linsey Davis said. “Now, we know that the racial divide started long before President Trump and President Obama, but each of you on this stage has said that President Trump has made that divide worse. Congressman O’Rourke, coming to you first, why are you the most qualified candidate to address this divide?”

“You know, I called this out in no uncertain terms on August 3rd — and every day since then — and I was talking about it long before then, as well,” O’Rourke replied.

“Racism in America is endemic. It is foundational. We can mark the creation of this country, not at the fourth of July 1776, but August 20th, 1619 — when the first kidnapped African was brought to this country against his will, and built the greatness and the success and the wealth that neither he nor his descendants would be able to fully participate in and enjoy.”

“I’m going to follow Sheila Jackson Lee’s lead and sign a reparations bill that will allow us to address this at its foundation. But we will also call out the fact that we have a white supremacist in the White House and he poses a mortal threat to people of color all across this country,” O’Rourke concluded.


By Bob Brigham

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