Texas Republican says he’ll vote for Trump ‘unless Beto O’Rourke decides to run as a Republican’

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) said Sunday that he plans to vote for President Trump for president in 2020 “unless Beto O’Rourke decides to run as a Republican.”

{mosads}Hurd, who has separated himself from Trump on issues such as the border wall and did not endorse him in 2016, is friends with former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas). O’Rourke is still considering a bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.

“My plan is to vote for the Republican nominee, yes,” Hurd told CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Host Jake Tapper pressed Hurd on his vote, saying, “Trump over O’Rourke?”

“That’s very clear,” Hurd responded. “Unless Beto O’Rourke decides to run as a Republican, which I don’t think he’s planning on doing.”

Will Hurd: I’m voting for Trump in 2020 even if Beto O’Rourke wins the Democratic nomination. pic.twitter.com/mBHbQhSLey

— Matt Shuham (@mattshuham) March 10, 2019

O’Rourke and Hurd went on a bipartisan road trip that was heavily promoted on social media in 2018.

Despite his own popularity in the state, O’Rourke did not endorse Hurd’s Democratic challenger during the midterms in a tight race in Texas’s 23rd District.