Beto O’Rourke ‘not interested’ in help from Biden during Texas gubernatorial campaign

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Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke told reporters Friday that he is “not interested” in help from President Joe Biden in his run to replace Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Regarding whether he would seek the help of Biden during his campaign, O’Rourke told reporters Friday that he did not want Biden or anyone else in Washington, D.C., to get involved in the campaign, according to The Dallas Morning News.

“I’m not interested in any national politician — anyone outside of Texas — coming into this state to help decide the outcome of this,” said O’Rourke. “I think we all want to make sure that we’re working with, listening to and voting with one another here in Texas.”

“No one in Washington, D.C., right now can help us with the challenges that we have,” he also said. “This one is on all of us.”

O’Rourke presented recent decisions from Congress and the Supreme Court regarding the U.S. election overhaul legislation and the Texas abortion law as evidence that Democrats in Texas have to go it on their own.

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O’Rourke’s comments reportedly came during an Austin news conference in which he said his campaign would connect with 2 million voters in February to teach them about the new voting laws.

O’Rourke, a former congressman, announced his campaign to oust Abbott in November following unsuccessful bids for the Senate and the presidency. His disinterest in Biden’s assistance comes amid plummeting approval ratings for the president, with a recent Quinnipiac poll showing his approval at 33%.

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O’Rourke’s comments came less than two weeks after Democrat Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams was conspicuously absent at speeches Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris made in her home state about voting rights. Abrams declined to attend, citing a “schedule conflict.”

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Republicans noted the bad optics of Abrams refusing to meet with the President of the United States, but she and her campaign pushed back against “false rumors” that she did not want to be seen with him. They did not elaborate on the cause of her schedule conflict.