Is Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rouke running for President? He’s definitely considering it, he told Oprah Winfrey.
“I have been thinking about running for President,” said the Democrat, who recently lost a race for a Texas seat in the U.S. Senate to Republican Ted Cruz, indicated. He made his remarks while taping an interview with Winfrey that is slated for broadcast on her “Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations” for the cable network OWN.
O’Rouke, whose Democratic support in Texas in the recent Senate race impressed many, has been scrutinized in recent months, with politicians and the media eager to find out if he plans to run for other public offices – including the White House.
He said his decision would really hinge on family, and ascertaining how his wife and children would be affected by a White House race.
“By God, when are you going to know the answer?” asked Winfrey.
O’Rourke said he hoped to come to a conclusion “really soon,” hopefully before the end of February.
He suggested a campaign could center on having Americans divided by various issues use common sense to devise a path forward. He recently drove around the Midwest and southwest, he said, and found people eager to get along. “The division we see in our country – I didn’t find that when I met people,” he said.
Among the issues O’Rourke indicated he felt were most pressing were gun control, immigration and climate change. “It’s not now. It’s yesterday,” he said about the effects of a warming planet, which he called, “The single greatest threat and opportunity we face as a people.”
Despite several queries from Winfrey, O’Rourke declined to commit to run. If he chooses not to, he said, he would like to find another way to help and serve the public.”