President Donald Trump attacked Texas Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke in a Friday tweet after the congressional hopeful participated in an extended CNN town hall.
Beto O’Rourke is a total lightweight compared to Ted Cruz, and he comes nowhere near representing the values and desires of the people of the Great State of Texas. He will never be allowed to turn Texas into Venezuela!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2018
Trump has staunchly supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in his race against O’Rourke, heaping praise on the senator after their debate face-off earlier this week. The president will also visit Texas next week to stump for Cruz on the campaign trail.
Watched the debate last night & Beto O’Rourke, who wants higher taxes and far more regulations, is not in the same league with Ted Cruz & what the great people of Texas stand for & want. Ted is strong on Crime, Border & 2nd A, loves our Military, Vets, Low Taxes. Beto is a Flake!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2018
O’Rourke has mounted an upstart candidacy against Cruz, attracting significant media attention and raising nearly 40 million dollars in his last fundraising quarter. He is, however, currently lagging behind Cruz by nearly 7 points in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average. Data website FiveThirtyEight similarly gives Cruz a 78 percent chance of winning his race with a forecasted vote share for Cruz of 51.8 percent of the vote versus 46.6 percent for O’Rourke.