Beto O’Rourke, a former member of the US House of Representatives and one of the presidential candidates running on the Democrats platform will stage a counter-rally next week during President Donald Trump’s mega-event in Dallas.
According to his campaign, O’Rourke will headline a 6 p.m. event at The Theatre in Grand Prairie, which seats about 6,300. The public is invited to his “Rally Against Fear,” which is expected to feature music and other entertainment.
Trump is holding what’s expected to be a large rally on Oct. 17 at American Airlines Center.
“We will not be defined by this president’s fear, his hate, or the differences between us that he tries to exploit but instead by a renewed sense of hope and a unified vision for the future of our country,” O’Rourke said in a news release.
“In this moment of smallness, paranoia, and division, Texas is going to lead the way with our our strength, our courage, our diversity, and the big, bold, ambitious things we want to achieve together.”
O’Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso and candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, has blamed Trump for the August shooting in El Paso that claimed 22 lives and injured numerous others. He’s branded the president as a racist and said his divisive rhetoric hurts the nation.
The duelling events will be the second clash between Trump and O’Rourke.
Last February, O’Rourke headlined an El Paso rally during Trump’s visit there. Attended by thousands, it was designed to push back against the president’s contention that El Paso is a dangerous city and a border wall is needed to protect it — and the nation.
“We know that walls do not save lives, walls end lives,” O’Rourke said at the time, alluding to the suffering and death that asylum seekers from other countries have faced. “We stand for the best traditions and the values of this country … for who we are when we’re at our best, and that’s El Paso, Texas.”
Read it all in Dallas News
