Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke called a campaign rally attendee a “mom–” on Thursday after the person laughed during discussion of mass shootings. . Experts say this will both hurt and help the democrat, who has likely taken his language too far.
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Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke called a campaign rally attendee a “mom–” on Thursday after the person laughed during discussion of mass shootings. . Experts say this will both hurt and help the democrat, who has likely taken his language too far.
Sergio Flores / Getty Images
Beto O’Rourke turned his head at a campaign rally Wednesday when he called an audience member a ***** mother. “And while the former U.S. Representative received cheers from the crowd, political experts say he’s gone too far.
The Democratic candidate was speaking to a crowd in North Texas about the Uvalde mass shooting, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, when a member of the audience started laughing, member NPR station KUT reported.
O’Rourke quickly turned around and pointed at the dog and said, “It may be funny to you, mom *****, but it’s not funny to me, OK.”
The crowd immediately began cheering in support of O’Rourke’s swift interruption.
According to Cal Jillson, a professor of Political Science at Southern Methodist University, O’Rourke’s knee response shows he’s passionate, which is fine, but dropping an f-bomb in a room with adults age and children, not so much.
“Slight swearing can make you seem more genuine to your supporters, but there are still dangerous nuances of language,” says Jillson. “[O’Rourke] could have slipped right to it and passed it. “
Rice University political science professor Mark Jones echoed similar views: “It helps them, but it hurts them.”
Jones said the shocking and startling impact of strong profanity didn’t do as much damage as it did to his reputation.
“These are voters who are Democratic voters, Republican voters, who have no problem with profanity in their private lives but consider public officials and those who make it out,” Jones said. publicly declared to a higher standard.
Texans have a long and strong history of advocating individualism, Jillson explains, which may be why O’Rourke’s swift response was immediately applauded. But if such language wins the election, we will see more of it, he said.
Jillson said conspicuous language in public can be counterproductive because it astounds audiences and members of the media. Instead of talking about the candidate’s message, they focus on their bold choice of words.
“It usually doesn’t matter much as the moment goes by, but the fewer moments you have like this, the better because you want to plan those moments in a life-like campaign or,” says Jillson. business,” said Jillson.
O’Rourke’s opponents will likely seize the moment to attack his credibility. Governor Gregg Abbott, who intends to continue his work, will likely use soundbite to target voters scowling with that kind of language.
Jillson says toilet-talking and hitting opponents seems to be more common than ever in politics, which is unfortunate because it makes it harder for these people to do their jobs.
“You hear people being called fascists, communists, sex workers, and pedophiles in ways you didn’t hear decades ago, and now you hear people are more encouraged to attract attention.” audience attention,” he said. “It’s bad for our politics because it’s getting harder to conduct politics and find the middle ground on issues.”
