Daytime TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres jumped to her Twitter account to say she would like to meet the Democrat candidate for Senate in Texas, after his passionate support of NFL anthem protesters.
A video of Beto O’Rourke explaining why he supports the anti-American protests by NFL players was shopped around among left-Twitter this week, with many falling in love with the Texas candidate facing Sen. Ted Cruz in the general this fall.
Re-tweeting the video, DeGeneres noted that she would like to meet the candidate:
O’Rourke was asked by a member of the audience at his recent Houston, Texas, townhall if he thought that protesting the country during the national anthem was disrespectful. O’Rourke said that not only are the protests not disrespectful to our soldiers, police, or our flag and country, he went farther and said that “nothing is more American” than protesting during the national anthem.
“Reasonable people can disagree on this issue,” he insisted before going on to say, “I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully, standing up, or taking a knee, for your rights, anytime, anywhere, in any place.”
On the other hand — and showing a stark difference between the candidates — O’Rourke’s opponent, sitting Republican Senator Ted Cuz, said he finds O’Rourke’s stance to be less than patriotic.
“When Beto O’Rourke says he can’t think of anything more American (than players taking a knee), well I got to tell you, I can,” Cruz said in reply to O’Rourke’s approval of the protests.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.