Beto O’Rourke: Trump Is a Racist ‘Encouraging More Racism,’ We See Climate of Hate on the Internet and Fox News

Former congressman and 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke denounced President Donald Trump‘s rhetoric in the wake of the horrific El Paso shooting.

He spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper from El Paso this morning and said in addition to addressing gun laws, “we’ve got to acknowledge the hatred, the open racism that we’re seeing”:

“There’s an environment of it in the United States. We see it on Fox News, we see it on the internet, but we also see it from our commander-in-chief. He is encouraging this. He doesn’t just tolerate it, he encourages it, calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals, warning of an ‘invasion’ at our border, seeking to ban all people of one religion. Folks are responding to this. It doesn’t just offend us, it encourages the kind of violence we’re seeing, including in my home town of El Paso yesterday.”

Tapper referenced the unconfirmed manifesto and the disturbing language within about a Hispanic “invasion,” saying that assuming it’s read, “the alleged terrorist anticipated people would blame President Trump for it and said I felt this way before President Trump.”

O’Rourke again denounced Trump’s rhetoric and said, “You might hear someone in the Third Reich describe a given people based on their characteristic as an infestation or subhuman, but that’s what the President of the United States is doing.”

He again said anti-immigrant rhetoric is coming not just from Trump, but from Fox News and on the internet.

At one point, Tapper asked O’Rourke if he thinks the president is a white nationalist. O’Rourke said yes.

“Let’s be very clear about what is causing this and who the president is,” he continued, “he is an open avowed racist and encouraging more racism in this country, and this is incredibly dangerous for the United States of America right now.”

You can watch above, via CNN.