President Donald Trump ridiculed Beto O’Rourke for what he saw as wild gesticulation in his 2020 presidential campaign announcement video, in an Oval Office pool spray Thursday seated next to the Irish Prime Minister.
“He has a lot of hand movement. Is he crazy or is that just the way he acts? I’ve never seen hand movement like that. I watched him a little while this morning doing I assume some kind of a news conference. And I actually never seen anything quite like it. Study it, I’m sure you’ll agree,” Trump said when asked for a reaction.
Trump says Beto had a lot of hand movement, wonders if he is crazy pic.twitter.com/i3Q2SloJD8
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) March 14, 2019
O’Rourke announced his candidacy for president in the 2020 election cycle Thursday morning in a nearly three-and-a-half minute video announcement. The former congressman then made his first campaign stop in Keokuk, Iowa where he took questions from dozens of prospective voters. O’Rourke launched a merchandising section on his website but has not yet listed any policy positions.
I am running to serve you as the next president. The challenges we face are the greatest in living memory. No one person can meet them on their own. Only this country can do that, and only if we build a movement that includes all of us. Say you’re in: https://t.co/EKLdkVET2u pic.twitter.com/lainXyvG2n
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 14, 2019
The failed Senate contender and former three-term Congressman debuted his announcement with a lengthy profile in Vanity Fair magazine in which he declared, “I want to be in it.”
“Man, I’m just born to be in it, and want to do everything I humanly can for this country at this moment,” O’Rourke said. (RELATED: Reuters: Beto O’Rourke Wins Even If He Loses)
“Man, I’m just born to be in it.” Beto O’Rourke seemed to come from nowhere to the brink of a presidential candidacy—but he’s been on this journey for his whole life. O’Rourke spoke with Joe Hagan. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz. https://t.co/WhmQGZnbUg pic.twitter.com/a7DCoaZdtd
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) March 13, 2019