Over 20 Democratic presidential hopefuls are attempting to remove President Donald Trump from the White House in 2020.
Getting to Know Rep. Beto O’Rourke
For Democrats across the country in 2018, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) represented the flavor of the month.
Unfortunately, after about 30 days months change and obviously people’s tastes change just as fast because the momentum that O’Rourke had as he challenged Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for a Senate seat in a blue state has totally faded.
As a result, his campaign for presidency has never attracted the same amount of attention as his campaign for the Senate.
After a couple of mediocre debate performances, O’Rourke has shown that he can heal the country in a way that differentiates himself from President Donald Trump, criticizing President Trump’s rhetoric as he returned to his hometown of El Paso, Texas to deal with the aftermath of the mass shooting at a local Wal-Mart.
When a reporter asked what more could Trump do to stop mass shootings, O’Rourke criticized the media’s coverage of the 45th President of the United States.
O’Rourke said, “What do you think? You know the sh*t he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don’t, like, members of the press, what the f***.
“It’s these questions that you know the answers to. I mean, connect the dots about what he’s been doing in this country. He’s not tolerating racism, he’s promoting racism. He’s not tolerating violence, he’s inciting racism and violence in this country. So you know, I just—I don’t know what kind of question that is.”
However, there is no question where O’Rourke stands when it comes to gun control and gun violence in American society.
“Children should be able to learn without fear of being gunned down in their school,” O’Rourke said via his website. “Worshippers should be to able to pray without fear of being murdered in their mosques, synagogues, churches and places of worship.
“All of us should be able to live without fear of losing our lives at movie theaters, in night clubs, at concerts, or on the street.”
O’Rourke’s website goes on to say, “As president, Beto has a plan to start ending the epidemic of gun violence in America by implementing universal background checks, which have proven to reduce violence; closing loopholes, like the Boyfriend Loophole and the Charleston Loophole, so domestic abusers can’t possess deadly weapons and the FBI has the time it needs to conduct background checks; keeping weapons of war on the battlefield, so they’re not trained against our communities; passing red flag laws, so people who have a tendency to harm themselves or others don’t have access to firearms; and addressing existing suffering, by increasing trauma support.”
This week also saw the issue of immigration take center stage nationally as hundreds of undocumented immigrants got arrested at work in Mississippi for being in America illegally.
O’Rourke wants to close child detention centers, reunite families and make sure the family separations never take place again despite the immigration status of the parents.
Furthermore, the former congressman wants to make sure that Dreamers never live in fear again of getting deported back to the country of their origin.
The presidential candidate said, “Our nation has always believed in welcoming the oppressed, the persecuted, and the hopeful—but President Trump has defied the American aspiration, drafted into our Declaration of Independence, welded into our Statue of Liberty, and secured by the sacrifices of countless generations.”
O’Rourke also has a history of standing up for the rights of African-Americans.
Ten years ago, the politician wrote a book condemning the War on Drugs.
He vows to continue to fight against laws that adversely affect African-Americans disproportionately by ending the prohibition of marijuana while also expunging the criminal records of those arrested in the past on marijuana charges.
The El Paso, Texas native wants to end mandatory minimum sentences, private prisons run for profit while also making sure the judicial system holds police officers accountable for violating the civil rights of minorities.
BetoORourke.com reported that, “America has the largest prison population on the face of the planet: approximately 2.2 million people, locked behind bars, including many who are there for nonviolent drug crimes.
“People of color disproportionately suffer the consequences of our criminal justice system—because it’s built on the same structural racism that pervades so much of our society, from a maternal mortality crisis three times as deadly for Black women to a school system where a child of color is far more likely to be punished in school to an economy where there is 10 times more wealth in White America than in Black America.”
One of the reasons that minorities lag behind their White counterparts as it pertains to building wealth is the high cost of college and high interest student loans.
O’Rourke wants to make two-year community colleges free for all Americans.
Additionally, the presidential hopeful wants to make the first two years of a four-year college education at state colleges and universities free of charge.
The Texan wants to increase support to the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and to the schools that serve large minority populations.
Another way in which O’Rourke wants to reduce high interest loans is to forgive student loan debt for educators who have spent five years teaching in a public school.
And while the current racial climate has increased O’Rourke’s media visibility this week, the former congressman also wants to address actual climate change.
His website said, “Climate change is the greatest threat we face—one which will test our country, our democracy and every single one of us. Our longstanding inaction has not only impacted our climate but led to a growing emergency that has already started to sap our economic prosperity and public health—worsening inequality and threatening our safety and security.”
