Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke on Thursday said he did feel like a target during Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate, but he explained his strategy by saying he’s not running “against” any particular candidate.
“I feel like my responsibility on that stage is to describe and define what I want to do for this country, and the way in which I want to do it,” Mr. O’Rourke of Texas said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I’m not running against anybody — I’m running for the United States of America. So I wanted to outline our vision, the means that would allow us to achieve it.”
He had been asked why there wasn’t more of a strategy to go more specifically after some of his 2020 Democratic presidential rivals and their positions.
Mr. O’Rourke himself was singled out by other candidates, such as former Obama administration official Julián Castro over the issue of immigration and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over health care.
“I sure did,” he said when asked in a separate interview on CNN if he felt other candidates were going after him specifically.
“But that’s part of politics, and it’s part of the debate — certainly one where you have 10 candidates on the stage, each of them trying to make their mark,” he said on CNN’s “New Day.”
He said he would give himself an “A” for his performance.
“I was really happy with how I did. I got to lay out why I’m running for president,” he said.
On MSNBC, he said other people had other strategies and other goals.
Mr. O’Rourke went on to advocate for ending family separations, ensuring accountability for migrant children who have died in U.S. custody and freeing illegal immigrant “Dreamers” from the threat of deportation.
“My job is to explain that on that stage and … bring this country together around the means to actually get that done,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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