Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) live-streamed his dental cleaning Thursday as part of a video series the 2020 hopeful launched to showcase the experiences of people who reside near the U.S.-Mexico border.
“So I’m here at the dentist and we’re going to continue our series on the people of the border,” O’Rourke says in a video shared to Instagram as he reclines in a dentist chair. The former El Paso-area congressman then flips his cell phone camera onto his hygienist, Diana, to talk about her life growing up near the Southern border. Diana tells O’Rourke she was born in El Paso to a mother from a small Mexican town and a father with U.S. citizenship. The hygienist goes on to say her mother was a permanent resident in the U.S. as she studied for her American citizenship exam, telling O’Rourke her neighbors were supportive of her mother’s studies. “[T]he entire neighborhood was there when she passed her citizenship test,” she said.
“We all support each other, we love each other,” she added. “It’s not what everyone else thinks.”
O’Rourke, who rocketed to national prominence following a failed bid to unseat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the 2018 midterm election, is reportedly mulling a run for the presidency in 2020.
While O’Rourke has mainly garnered glowing coverage from the establishment media, various reporters ridiculed the former lawmaker for live-streaming his dentist trip, leaving some wondering if his social media antics have gone too far.
Happening now on @BetoORourke’s Insta story: “I’m here at the dentist, and we’re going to continue our series about people who live along the border. My dental hygenist, Diana, is going to tell us about growing up in El Paso.” pic.twitter.com/WsGZ9c9IBD
— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) January 10, 2019
This has jumped the shark https://t.co/pE5X9sLwOE
— Kyle Blaine (@kyletblaine) January 10, 2019
OUT: Keto diet
IN: Beto binge https://t.co/OSqoMoFTKc https://t.co/MJLyT0xIHh— Elahe Izadi (@ElaheIzadi) January 10, 2019
Is this now The Truman Show? https://t.co/qLF6QIe7lH
— Ben Pershing (@benpershing) January 10, 2019
He's numbing. https://t.co/RQz5lPZ7AN
— Paul Blumenthal (@PaulBlu) January 10, 2019
oh no pic.twitter.com/eePPNsgo60
— David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) January 10, 2019
What will @ewarren or @SenSanders do to top this? Hmmmm https://t.co/SEGrt6OicA
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) January 10, 2019
I am constantly amused by my colleagues now realizing that Beto livestreams
E V E R Y T H I N G. https://t.co/iIVTb75ZTO— Tara Golshan (@taragolshan) January 10, 2019
God I hope Beto O'Rourke doesn't need a colonoscopy anytime soon
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) January 10, 2019
Just no. https://t.co/r8Xm1XjU5v
— Amanda Becker (@AmandaBecker) January 10, 2019
On the positive side. I am reminded that I do need to go see the dentist
— Sam Stein (@samstein) January 10, 2019
Hope @BetoORourke launches his 2020 campaign after visiting the dentist pic.twitter.com/wF74YwqScR
— Alfred Joyner (@alfredjoyner) January 10, 2019
stop showing me Beto's mouth pls thnx
— Summer Brennan (@summerbrennan) January 10, 2019
This @BetoORourke livestream is getting weird… pic.twitter.com/2PMzh4ReVL
— Johnny Verhovek (@JTHVerhovek) January 10, 2019
@BetoORourke please don’t get a colonoscopy the next couple of years
— David Berkowitz #ces #ces2019 (@dberkowitz) January 10, 2019
Beto may be the first Texas politician to so openly oppose enamel cruelty
— Adam Chandler (@AllMyChandler) January 10, 2019
[Dentist waiting room]
Beto: [chanting] teeth, teeth-
Other patients:
Secretary: sir you're disturbing our clients please stop
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) January 10, 2019
You will have to pay to see Beto's colonoscopy.
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) January 10, 2019
O’Rourke slammed President Trump’s Oval Office address Tuesday, accusing the president of instilling “anxiety and paranoia” about the border as the partial government shutdown extends into its third week. “By any measure the border is as safe as it’s ever been,” he said. “And the president using fear and anecdote to try to instill anxiety and paranoia to build the political will to construct this wall that would cost $30 billion and take private property and cause death and suffering … that was what we heard from the Oval Office.”
“And we need to meet that fear with the truth, with our ambition, with the best traditions of this country,” the 2020 hopeful added.
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