Last Wednesday, Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s opponent attacked him on Twitter, prompting failed Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke to jump in on her behalf, tweeting, “Dan Crenshaw is the gaslighting Texas Trump puppet, who is fighting to REDUCE access to healthcare in the midst of a pandemic, who undermines public health as thousands of Texans are dying, and who is complicit in every Trump crime against this country.”
Crenshaw responded by tweeting, “You’re my best fundraiser. Everytime we do this little dance I raise tens of thousands of dollars. Thanks Beto!”
You’re my best fundraiser. Everytime we do this little dance I raise tens of thousands of dollars. Thanks Beto!
Keep up the momentum here: https://t.co/HuW1OFaRKE
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) October 24, 2020
Crenshaw’s opponent accused him of “lying about pre-existing conditions *again*,” in an attempt to twist what Crenshaw has said about health insurance.
Crenshaw stated bluntly on October 23 that claims he had supported ending protections for pre-existing conditions were false, tweeting, “This is the amendment Republicans introduced on the first day of this Congress to protect people with pre-existing conditions. I voted for it. I’ve never voted for or supported any bill that would end protections for pre-existing conditions. Beto and Democrats should stop lying.”
This is the amendment Republicans introduced on the first day of this Congress to protect people with pre-existing conditions. I voted for it.
I’ve never voted for or supported any bill that would end protections for pre-existing conditions.
Beto and Democrats should stop lying https://t.co/7X0VDEODgH pic.twitter.com/4FitcI84du
— Rep. Dan Crenshaw (@RepDanCrenshaw) October 23, 2020
Prior to his tweet thanking O’Rourke, Crenshaw, fed-up with O’Rourke’s behavior, tweeted, “My lord, you seem unhinged. Americans aren’t falling for Democrat scare tactics anymore, sorry Beto. We have better solutions for more personalized healthcare. Help me fight back against unhinged Beto.”
My lord, you seem unhinged.
Americans aren’t falling for Democrat scare tactics anymore, sorry Beto. We have better solutions for more personalized healthcare.
Help me fight back against unhinged Beto. Please donate here https://t.co/dMX0ckkaoa https://t.co/VOK2SAMPYn
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) October 21, 2020
O’Rourke has indulged his penchant for charged rhetoric a number of times. In July, speaking on MSNBC, he described the Texas GOP as a “death cult” that supposedly wanted African Americans and Latinos to die.
O’Rourke stated to host Ali Velshi, “We know that Latinos and African Americans are disproportionately bearing the burden of COVID transmission that is out of control in the state of Texas. This governor, our governor, Greg Abbott, is choosing to allow people to die when he could choose to allow county judges to save their lives.”
Velshi claimed he had spoken to “endless mayors and judges and other county officials” who said they were frustrated with Abbott and wanted to “fix this,” then asked, “Why is Greg Abbott not allowing this?”
O’Rourke concluded his invective with the “death cult” charge:
This is one of the most craven, callous failures of leadership that I’ve ever witnessed in my life. We don’t have a Governor Cuomo here, which we desperately need. Someone who’s going to be guided by the facts and the science and the truth, and whose sole mission is going to be saving the lives of those that he is elected to serve. Instead, we have a governor who perhaps is looking at the 2022 Republican primary for the office that he now holds, trying to fend off our lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, who on Fox News said there are more important things than living.
In other words, let’s get on with the dying, knowing full well that it will be those front-line workers making $7.25 an hour, which is the minimum wage in Texas; it’ll be African Americans, it’ll be Latinos and Mexican Americans who will be doing the dying right here in Texas. This is a death cult, the Texas GOP, only they want you to do the dying, and that’s exactly what is happening in Texas right now.
In October 2019, O’Rourke threatened the freedom of religious institutions that would not change their rules to follow political correctness, saying at CNN’s LGBTQ town hall event, “There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America, that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us. So as president, we’re going to make that a priority, and we are going to stop those who are infringing upon the human rights of our fellow Americans.”
Senator Ben Sasse furiously denounced O’Rourke, stating harshly, “The freedom of the conscience is a fundamental American belief and thankfully politicians have no business policing that. … So that means that if a Texas politician pandering for a sound bite decides to make a bold-faced threat against Muslims, Jews, and Christians, all Americans from every faith and every walk of life, we have an obligation to come together and to defend our freedoms. So we should do that. I don’t care what some nitwit said on CNN last week to satisfy his fringy base and try to get a sound bite in a presidential debate.”