Rob Flaherty, who was recently tapped as the digital director for Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign, previously tweeted that fellow Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was "gonna be a hall of famer some day."
Flaherty, who formerly served as the creative director at the progressive super PAC Priorities USA and was the deputy digital communications director for Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 presidential bid, is set to join O'Rourke's campaign amid the departure of two senior officials who "worked on O'Rourke's Senate run and Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign," according to Politico.
".@PeteButtigieg is gonna be a hall of famer some day," Flaherty tweeted.
https://twitter.com/Rob_Flaherty/status/835550358646718466
"We are excited that Rob Flaherty will be joining our team as digital director and working closely with Hector Sigala — our senior adviser for digital — and the entire Middle Seat team," an O'Rourke aide told Politico.
O'Rourke's campaign has struggled in recent weeks as Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., has surged with several media appearances, including a CNN town hall, an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, on A-list podcasts, and on Morning Joe. He has also been featured in New York Magazine, POLITICO Magazine, the Atlantic and many other publications, according to Politico.
The New York Times reported last month that both campaigns are competing for the same demographics and that voters "are hungering for a next-generation candidate."
"Both men are fresh faces in a party that often covets newness, and each is difficult to pin down on policy, hailing from neither the establishment nor the insurgent wing and centering their appeal in biography as much as ideology," the Times reported.
In addition to praising Buttigieg in an old tweet, Flaherty took shots at Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who is running for president as a Democrat, back in January.
"what if instead of losing again, Bernie Sanders started a livejournal," Flaherty tweeted.
https://twitter.com/Rob_Flaherty/status/1088960255629946880
"Bernie Sanders running for President again is like Fleetwood Mac touring with two replacements for Lindsey Buckingham. A sad, shell of its former self, fighting for relevance with a smaller, aging fan base," Flaherty tweeted.
https://twitter.com/Rob_Flaherty/status/1088960856388452355