Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked Beto O'Rourke for supposedly falling out of favor with the media in its coverage of the 2020 Democratic Party primary, which is instead focusing on Pete Buttigieg, a "younger, hotter candidate."
O'Rourke, 46, a former Texas Congressman and Senate candidate, made waves when he formally entered the race, raising millions of dollars for his campaign and winning plaudits as a serious outside contender for the party's candidacy.
But in recent weeks he has been somewhat eclipsed by Buttigieg, 37, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a gay veteran of the Afghanistan War whose competent media performances and speeches have raised his profile significantly—putting him in third place in one 2020 poll.
"Imagine how it must feel to be Beto O'Rourke right now. If you're O'Rourke, you're out there running for president really hard, or at least running for vice-president. You're running anyway. You're giving speech after speech every day," Carlson said during his show Tuesday night.
"'Children are our future. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.' Inspiring stuff like that. Deep stuff like that. And there's a physical component to the job too. You're riding your skateboard for the camera. You're taking god knows how many selfies for your fans on Snapchat and Instagram. It's not an easy gig.
"Then one morning you wake up and discover that your one true love, the American news media, have called it off. They've left you for a younger, hotter candidate. Went out for a pack of cigarettes and just never came home. They split with some guy from Indiana. You can't even pronounce the guy's name."
Carlson asked: "What's going on here exactly? Who is this guy? There are a lot of liberals running for president right now. Why would the 37-year-old mayor of some third string midwestern city—no offense, but that's what it is—why would that guy stand out?"
On March 14, O'Rourke ended speculation about his 2020 intentions by formally entering the race. Exactly a month later, Buttigieg also announced his candidacy having launched in January an exploratory committee.
There is a wide and diverse field of candidates for the 2020 Democratic nomination. According to an Emerson Polling survey of Americans released on April 15, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders came out on top at 29 percent.
In second place is former Vice President Joe Biden at 24 percent, though he is yet to announce his 2020 intentions. Leaping up to third place despite his past status as an unknown was Buttigieg at 9 percent, followed by O'Rourke in fourth place at 8 percent.
"While still early in the nominating process, it looks like Mayor Pete is the candidate capturing voters' imagination," said Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson Polling. "The numbers had him at 0 percent in mid-February, 3 percent in March and now at 9 percent in April."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Shane Croucher is a Senior Editor based in London, UK. He oversees the My Turn team. He has previously overseen ... Read more
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