Beto O’Rourke confronts Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over school massacre: ‘It’s on you’

Beto O’Rourke crashed a press conference on Wednesday in the grieving town of Uvalde to confront Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott over the school massacre that killed 21 people on Tuesday.

The Democratic candidate against Abbott strode to the front of an auditorium and blasted the pro-gun governor for doing nothing to stop the epidemic of gun violence in the Lone Star State.

“It’s on you,” said O’Rourke, a former El Paso congressman and 2020 presidential candidate.

“You said this wasn’t predictable,” he added. “It’s totally predictable.”

“Someone needs to stand up for the children of this state or they will continue to be killed like they were in Uvalde,” O’Rourke said before leaving the room.

Abbott sat calmly on the dais and did not respond as O’Rourke delivered the stunning rebuke. As law enforcement officers ushered him out, another official called O’Rourke a “sick son of a b---h.”

Democrat Beto O'Rourke, who is running against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for governor this year, interrupts a news conference headed by Abbott in Uvalde, Texas Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (Dario Lopez-Mills/)

Beto earlier demanded that Abbott skip a planned speech this weekend at the National Rifle Association’s convention and ask the NRA to move its convention from Houston out of respect for the victims of the latest mass shooting.

“If you have any decency, you will immediately withdraw from this weekend’s NRA convention and urge them to hold it anywhere but Texas,” O’Rourke tweeted.

There is no sign that Abbott plans to respect or even acknowledge O’Rourke’s demand. He is scheduled to speak at the annual convention along with his allies, former President Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

Abbott did not even mention the word “gun” in a message about the massacre, in which a crazed teen used an AR-15 assault weapon to kill 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde.

“I mourn this horrific loss & urge all Texans to come together,” Abbott tweeted. Texas is one of the most gun-friendly states in the nation and has few restrictions on owning or carrying firearms.

Texas Democrat and gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke listens before interrupting a news conference headed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in Uvalde, Texas Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (Dario Lopez-Mills/)

Even after a church shooting in Sutherland Springs killed 25 people in 2017, there is next to no chance that the Lone Stare State will enact any rules to curb gun violence.

Abbott leads O’Rourke by a healthy margin in most polls of the fall general election, although O’Rourke is a potent fundraiser and campaigner who gave Cruz a tough race in 2018.

Beto O’Rourke (left) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (right)

O’Rourke, a former El Paso congressman, could also be playing with political fire by making guns a big issue in the race against Abbott. He was criticized in Texas for his pro-gun control stance during his short-lived Democratic presidential primary campaign in 2020.

“Hell yeah, I’m going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” O’Rourke said at a Democratic presidential debate, referring to assault weapons.