After Saying Media Should Hold Him Accountable, Beto Has Breitbart Journalist Booted: Report
Senate race loser and Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke is working hard to get more than 3 percent of Democrats to believe in his rad vision for America.
His slogan “Beto for America” might better be stated as “Beto for the dozen or so of you that showed up to this Whole Foods parking lot.”
And now that the chips are down, O’Rourke is showing his true colors.
His desperation has the former Texas congressman deviating from the “principles” he claims he once had.
O’Rourke has voiced strong support for the press. At a 2018 town hall event, he said, “If we don’t have a free press, if we cannot make informed decisions at the ballot box, if you can’t hold people like me accountable, and make sure that we’re held honest to the promises that we made, to the job that we’re performing in these positions of public trust, we’ll lose the very essence of our democracy.”
The press is not the enemy of the people but the best defense against tyranny. We need to vigorously defend the freedom of the press. It’s essential for our democracy. pic.twitter.com/LnqtevuOCV
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) October 30, 2018
But now that the press is doing more than writing puff pieces about how he used to be in a band and is cool because he rides a skateboard, O’Rourke isn’t as big a fan of being held “accountable.”
After learning that a Breitbart reporter was at one of his campaign events at Benedict College, O’Rourke’s staff lied to campus police in an effort to have the journalist thrown out.
Shortly before the event began, a campus police officer pulled Joel Pollak from the press gaggle and informed him that he had to leave the event. An O’Rourke staffer explained that Pollak had been disruptive at previous events.
Pollak denied that claim and later provided video proof of the only interaction he had ever had with O’Rourke.
According to Pollak’s account, the reporter “has covered two O’Rourke events. The first was at a protest outside a shelter for migrant teens in Homestead, Florida, in June; the second was at the College of Charleston “Bully Pulpit” lecture in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday evening. At no point was there any disruption whatsoever.”
Pollak asked a question during a Monday press gaggle at the College of Charleston. That question and O’Rourke’s answer is recorded on video. “That was the only interaction of any kind with the candidate.” Pollak said.
The question Pollak asked O’Rourke was as follows:
“President Trump, after Charlottesville, said that he condemned the white supremacists and the neo-Nazis ‘totally.’ Are you aware that you are misquoting him, or partially quoting him — not quoting the full extent of his remarks in Charlottesville? Are you concerned that that might inflame tensions rather than heal divisions?”
Watch Pollak’s question and O’Rourke’s response below.
[jwplayer 2u90vy49]
O’Rourke replied in typical fashion, but there was no disruption of any kind. You can watch the video for yourself and see if you think O’Rourke’s team is being honest when it claims Pollak was acting out of order.
So why the sudden change of heart, Beto?
How did O’Rourke change in a year’s time from calling for the press to hold politicians accountable to kicking out reporters who ask uncomfortable questions?
Democrats like O’Rourke act like Trump’s antagonism to certain media outlets constitutes an “attack on the press.” If that’s the new standard, then it certainly appears that the O’Rourke campaign’s removal of Pollak qualifies.
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