Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke: Too White for CNN

CNN wrote a scathing article about the potential 2020 presidential candidacy of failed U.S. Senate candidate Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke Thursday, claiming that it “drips with white male privilege.”

The fact that O’Rourke, who goes by “Beto” to fool constituents into thinking he is Hispanic, and touts his roots in El Peso though he attended one of the most prestigious prep schools in America, and has a billionaire father-in-law, has been reported at great length on this site. CNN – lagging behind as always – appears to finally be catching on the con.

CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson writes:

O’Rourke, 46, we are told, is “Obama, but white,” because of his fundraising prowess — he raised nearly $80 million in his loss to Sen. Ted Cruz. He skateboards! He listens! He connects on the internet!

And Jack Kerouac-style, he roams around, jobless (does he not need a job?) to find himself and figure out if he wants to lead the free world. This is a luxury no woman or even minority in politics could ever have.

Not to defend O’Rourke – I love watching the social justice crowd eat itself alive – but is Henderson aware of the fact that white men, too, work for a living? Or is her juvenile impression of America that white men make millions just for waking up in the morning and being white?

Henderson continues:

But O’Rourke, tall, handsome, white and male, has this latitude, to be and do anything. His privilege even allows him to turn a loss to the most despised candidate of the cycle into a launching pad for a White House run.

Stacey Abrams, a Yale-trained lawyer, couldn’t do this.

O’Rourke is being criticized for his randomness. For his TMI’ing and for his “what do I want to do with my life” aimlessness.

But the fact that he knows he has the freedom to cast about as a campaign-in-waiting forms, shows how much of his political identity is predicated on being white and male.

There is no critical theory here. Henderson, and by extension CNN, simply dislikes O’Rourke because he is a white man.

This is CNN.

O’Rourke has not announced whether he plans to run for president. Some feel that his delay is hurting his chances, or signifies that he will not run.


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