MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace suggested that Texas democratic gubernatorial hopeful Beto O’Rourke, was the one being mistreated when police escorted him out of a formal press conference that he had intentionally disrupted.
Wallace showed footage of O’Rourke interrupting Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) while he attempted to update reporters and victims’ families in the aftermath of Tuesday’s horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
After O’Rourke confronted Abbott, accusing him of “doing nothing,” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin called him a “sick son of a b****” for attempting to weaponize the press conference for his own political gain, and police officers escorted him from the building — but Wallace appeared to be far more concerned with the way those present had responded to O’Rourke than the fact that he had disrupted the event in the first place.
WATCH:
How rude! MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace seems to think Beto O'Rourke was the one being mistreated when cops ejected him from the press conference he crashed. pic.twitter.com/x2r0Iq0nVA
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) May 25, 2022
Wallace began by lamenting the lack of federal action to implement more gun control, saying, “Action, real, meaningful action on guns has been non-existent on the federal level, and in Republican led states. In fact, things are going the other way.”
She went on to complain about the fact that two of the elected officials who represent Uvalde — Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Governor Abbott — were both still slated to attend the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) upcoming annual meeting on Friday.
“In a speech last night, a clearly exasperated President Joe Biden urged Americans to turn their pain into action,” Wallace continued, sharing a moment from Biden’s Tuesday evening address attacking the “gun lobby.”
“As a nation, we have to ask when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?” Biden asked, going on to warn his political opposition against standing in the way of what he called “common sense gun laws.”
“And just this afternoon at a press conference in Uvalde, Governor Greg Abbott was confronted by his Democratic opponent, a visibly frustrated Beto O’Rourke,” Wallace continued, showing video of O’Rourke as he disrupted the press conference. When he first stood up, Senator Cruz simply told him to “sit down,” advising him to back off of what was clearly a political “stunt.” It was only after O’Rourke persisted, pointing his finger and shouting at Abbott, that McLaughlin responded — and O’Rourke was escorted from the venue a short time later.
“If that’s how they treat Beto O’Rourke, who was a member of Congress now running for governor, you wonder what’s going on down there,” Wallace responded.