Washington Free Beacon editor in chief Matthew Continetti on Friday listed the ways that 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O'Rourke is unlike the nation's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.
Continetti's comments came during an appearance on Fox News's Special Report, where he noted that, if elected president, O'Rourke would be the first former congressman to lose a Senate race and then win the White House in the next election cycle since Lincoln. The 16th president lost a much publicized Senate race in Illinois to Stephen Douglas in 1858. O'Rourke, who served three terms in the House, lost a high-profile race to incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R.) in 2018.
Continetti observed the differences between O'Rourke and Lincoln, who led the nation through the American Civil War and abolished slavery.
"I think that we can safely that Beto O'Rourke is not Abraham Lincoln," Continetti said. "Let me count the ways."
"Lincoln grew up in a log cabin. Beto had a very pampered life; he's married to an heiress," Continetti continued. "Lincoln's formal education lasted about one year, if you add it all up. Beto is a graduate of my alma mater, Columbia University. Lincoln was dedicated to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, and Beto waves his arms a lot. The only thing they have in common is height."
O'Rourke announced his candidacy for president on Thursday morning, after an interview with Vanity Fair in which he appeared to say that he was made for the job.
"I want to be in it," he said. "Man, I'm just born to be in it, and want to do everything I humanly can for this country at this moment."
Before announcing his candidacy, O'Rourke embarked on a road trip through the American southwest, where he visited small towns and blogged about his travels on Medium, in an effort to, in his words, "clear my head."
After launching his campaign, O'Rourke came under fire for the lack of specifics in his campaign platform.
"He spoke to these broad and inspiring themes, about the importance of combating climate change, about the importance of improving the dignity of work for people, but he didn't get into specifics," MSNBC's Garrett Haake said of O'Rourke's announcement on Thursday.