O’Rourke said his campaign is “not going to be about anyone from outside of our state,” when asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” whether he would welcome Biden to Texas to help him campaign. When pressed for a second time whether he’d want Biden to visit the state, he again declined to extend an invitation.
“This campaign in Texas is not going to be about Joe Biden. It’s not going to be about Donald Trump. It’s not going to be about anyone from outside of our state. This is going to be about the people of Texas and what the people of Texas want,” O’Rourke said. “I’m focused on Texas and on my fellow Texans. Those are the people most important to me. There’s no politician, there’s no other person from outside of this state who can help change the course of this election, for better or for worse.”
O’Rourke said he wants his campaign to reach across party lines and unite Texans to advance their priorities, saying, “It’s the time for Texas to realize our full potential.”
“I want to help bring this state together not as Democrats, not as Republicans, but as Texans, and get back after doing the big things that Texas used to be known for,” O’Rourke said.
‘We don’t want extremism in our gun law’
“We don’t want extremism in our gun law. We want to protect the Second Amendment, we want to protect the lives of our fellow Texans,” he said, taking a more moderate tone.
“This entire tragedy makes the case that we should not allow our fellow Americans to own and use weapons that were originally designed for battlefield use,” O’Rourke said. “That AR-15, that AK-47 has one single solitary purpose and that is killing people as effectively as efficiently and as great a number in as little time as possible.”
This story has been updated with additional information.