Beto O’Rourke Receives Backlash Over Campaign Launch

Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign launch brought a new level of scrutiny that was not seen during his failed Senate run. Beto was forced to play defense apologizing for actions from his past and comments from each of his stops this weekend. His first 72 hours on the campaign trail came with a slew of criticism on all fronts:

Politico: “A more disciplined candidate might not have been so sloppy, with months to prepare and adoring crowds waiting.”

“Yet there was Beto O’Rourke, wobbling on policy, offending women with a joke about child care, frustrating local Democrats with his high-handedness and picking bewildering fights with the press.”

CNN: “[H]is refusal to answer questions about his campaign’s structure or fundraising, his apologies for his own remarks and voters’ critiques that he is light on substance have raised questions about whether O’Rourke’s be-everywhere, meet-everyone approach is delivering what Democratic voters really want.”

In addition to lacking substance on important issues, Beto made off-the-cuff comments about his wife, was forced to defend writings about murder and explain his involvement in a hacking group as a teen.