Here's Why People Hate Beto O’Rourke — Political TikToker Explains

Former U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke got very popular very fast when he challenged Ted Cruz in a Texas Senate race in 2018. He received more donations than Ted Cruz, and some donations came from supporters outside of Texas, leading people to wonder whether he had aspirations to be President.

However, opinions on Beto have changed over time, leading folks to wonder what exactly happened that could have moved such a popular candidate out of favor. TikTok creator @redblueandyou explains what happened in a video breakdown. Much of it had to do with his political moves and flip-flopping, but personal information that came out about Beto put the nail in the coffin. Here's the scoop.

According to Charles Peralo, who runs the political TikTok account @redblueand you, Beto was once "The next Barack Obama, for a day." So what made Beto fall out of favor? Charles argues that everything Beto has done since his 2018 Senate race against Ted Cruz has "made him hated, and this has really ruined him."

Charles starts by explaining why people hate Ted Cruz. When he joined the Senate, he got a lot of hate for shutting down the government because he opposed Obamacare. Then, when Ted ran for President, Trump called him "Lying Ted," and Ted refused to endorse Trump at the Republican convention, therefore separating himself from many Republicans.

So when Beto ran against Ted in the Texas Senate race, he was able to raise more money than Ted by running a moderate campaign. He even positioned himself as more conservative than Ted financially, opposing "unfunded tax cuts and reckless military spending," two things that Trump stood behind.

Charles explains that Beto got too popular too fast. People were donating to his Senate campaign from outside the state, causing Texans to wonder if Beto had plans to run for President in 2020. Even though Beto denied it, people still thought Beto might do it. They didn't want another Ted Cruz, who just wanted to use the Senate as a stepping stone to run for President.

However, because Beto became so popular in his campaign, he actually decided to run for President in 2020. However, when he ran for Senate, he said he was a moderate, and when he ran for president, he tried to copy Bernie Sanders and flip-flopped on his positions on guns and Medicare for All.

He then tried to seem more liberal by endorsing Joe Biden, but this just made Bernie supporters hate him, Charles argues. Beto's flip-flopping is a big part of what turned people against him.

Finally, the dirt that came out about Beto's personal life cast a shadow over the public's previous opinions about him. When the public learned that Beto's grandfather (who was a judge) got young Beto out of a DUI, where Beto crashed into someone's car and fled, they saw Beto as a "trust-fund kid" without accountability.

Charles argues that, to make matters worse, "He wasn't even Hispanic as he played it up to be." Beto didn't necessarily lie and say he was Hispanic, but he spoke fluent Spanish and used the nickname "Beto" instead of his legal name, "Robert," seemingly in efforts to connect with the Latino community in Texas.

On CBS's The TAKEOUT with Major Garret, Beto was asked whether he is planning to run for the Senate again in 2026. Beto said, "I don't know. The question I'm trying to answer is, 'How can I be as useful and helpful as I possibly can at this moment?' The country has clearly never been through anything like this."

Beto talked about the redistricting effort going on in Texas at the time and explained that he's holding town hall meetings, registering people to vote, and traveling outside of Texas to "preach the gospel of Texas" and build "support and reserves for the fight that we have back home."

"If that resolves in a candidacy, if it means that I continue to work as a private citizen and a volunteer, if it's something else ... it really doesn't matter to me," Beto added.

He said he thinks he could win the Democratic primary for the Senate in Texas, but doesn't know if it would be smart to run if he doesn't have a team of "powerful candidates [for other Texas offices] who can complement each other [and be] mutually supportive and make sure that we actually win."

He concluded that he wants to focus on what is best for the people of Texas rather than his personal aspirations.