Uvalde mayor calls O’Rourke ‘sick son of a b—-‘ after disruption

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin on Wednesday blasted Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke (D) after he disrupted a press conference with Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) and other officials who were speaking about Tuesday’s elementary school shooting.

O’Rourke called out Abbott, who had been sharing information on mental health policies in the wake of the shooting when O’Rourke rushed up to the podium.

“You are doing nothing,” O’Rourke said, while approaching. “You said this was not predictable; this was totally predictable, and you choose not to do anything.”

McLaughlin, who was sitting in the back row in a blue shirt and khakis, interrupted him and repeated said, “sir, you are out of line.”

He then stated, “I can’t believe you’re a sick son of a bitch who would come to a deal like this to make a political issue.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who was also onstage, told O’Rourke to “sit down” and not “play this stunt.”

“This is on you until you choose to do something different! This will continue to happen. Somebody needs to stand up for the children of this state or they will continue to be killed just as they were in Uvalde yesterday,” O’Rourke continued as he accompanied out of the press conference by security.

Beto O’Rourke interrupts ongoing press conference by Texas Gov. Abbott and other officials. pic.twitter.com/qa8YY0ghQy

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 25, 2022

McLaughlin’s office did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

When asked by reporters if he had a response to Abbott saying “now was not the time to make this political,” after he was escorted out of the event, O’Rourke told MSNBC that “now is the time to stop the next shooting.”

After the interruption, Abbott spoke about the families of those who lost loved ones and said “There are family members that are crying as we speak.”

“There are family members whose hearts are broken. There’s no words that anybody shouting can come up here and do anything to heal these broken hearts,” Abbott added.