Street artist Sabo and his “Unsavory Agents” have struck again, this time hitting failed Texas senatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, who announced that he’s “in” for the 2020 presidential race last Thursday — and promptly raised more than $6 million in 24 hours.
On a billboard on the corner of Pico and Beverly Glen Blvd across the street from Rancho Park Golf Course, Sabo installed his latest satirical street art piece early Tuesday morning: transforming a billboard depicting a car crashing into a building into a satirical reference to O’Rourke’s infamous drunk driving crash and subsequent arrest back in 1998. Last year, unearthed police reports revealed that a witness said O’Rourke attempted to flee the scene of the crime.
Sabo’s latest work is equivocally titled “Beto Runs.” A massive image of O’Rourke features him wearing a sombrero and sporting a drawn-on mustache, a reference to accusations that he’s chosen “Beto” rather than his full name “Robert” as an attempt to appeal to “ethnic” voters.
“I can’t help but wonder if Robert Francis ever had a hard day,” Sabo said in a statement to The Daily Wire. “He grow up having everyone of his troubles fixed by family, and when he left mom and dad he married a billionaire. The billboard makes reference to his hit-and-run DUI charges that either his uncle, a police chief, or his father, a judge, helped him skate out of. BETO is just another John Kerry or worse Ted Kennedy.”
Below are images obtained by The Daily Wire showing the artist installing the work early Tuesday:
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Here’s the final product:
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And here is a shot of the artist standing with Beto before the installation:
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The reference to Beto “running” is a nod to state and police reports on his drunk driving wreck that came to light last year, as reported by The Houston Chronicle.
“Although the arrest has been public knowledge, police reports of the September 1998 incident – when the Democratic Senate candidate had just turned 26 – show that it was a more serious threat to public safety than has previously been reported,” the Chronicle reported in August 2018.
“State and local police reports obtained by the Chronicle and Express-News show that O’Rourke was driving drunk at what a witness called ‘a high rate of speed’ in a 75 mph zone on Interstate 10 about a mile from the New Mexico border,” the outlet continued. “He lost control and hit a truck, sending his car careening across the center median into oncoming lanes. The witness, who stopped at the scene, later told police that O’Rourke had tried to drive away from the scene.”
The records show that O’Rourke had scored a 0.136 and a 0.134 on breathalyzers. He was arrested and slapped with a DWI, but had the charges dismissed after undergoing a diversion program.
The Chronicle noted that when asked about the reports, O’Rourke failed to address the accusation that he attempted to flee the scene, instead repeating his apology for drinking and driving. “I drove drunk and was arrested for a DWI in 1998,” he said. “As I’ve publicly discussed over the last 20 years, I made a serious mistake for which there is no excuse.”
O’Rourke announced his candidacy last Thursday and managed to raise more money in the first day than any other Democrat that has thus far entered the increasingly crowded field, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, who raised an impressive $5.9 million in the first 24 hours of his campaign. O’Rourke topped that with over $6.1 million.
Related: WATCH: Beto Announces He’s Running For President; Responses Online Are Hilarious
This article has been updated to include the quote from Sabo.