Robert “Beto” O’Rourke accused a Texas state lawmaker of making a death threat against him over a tweet about AR-15s.
After O’Rourke proclaimed he’s ready to come after semi-automatic weapons during the third Democratic debate in Houston, Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain tweeted, “My AR is ready for you, Robert Francis.”
Beto replied, telling the lawmaker “This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly, you shouldn’t own an AR-15—and neither should anyone else.”
This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly, you shouldn't own an AR-15—and neither should anyone else. pic.twitter.com/jsiZmwjMDs
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019
Cain, in turn, called Beto a “child” over the accusation.
“You’re a child Robert Francis,” he said.
You’re a child Robert Francis https://t.co/rU3WoYQFQV
— ?????????????? ???????? (@BriscoeCain) September 13, 2019
O'Rourke told ABC's David Muir that he stands by his pledge to get AR-15s and AK-47s out of Americans' hands.
"If it's a weapon that was designed to kill people on a battlefield," he said. "If the high impact, high velocity round, when it hits your body, shreds everything inside of your body, because it was designed to do that, so that you would bleed to death on a battlefield and not be able to get up and kill one of our soldiers.”
He continued: “When we see that being used against children, and in Odessa, I met the mother of a 15-year-old girl who was shot by an AR-15, and that mother watched her bleed to death over the course of an hour because so many other people were shot by that AR-15 in Odessa and Midland, there weren't enough ambulances to get to them in time, hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We're not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.”
The comment was met with loud applause.