MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle and contributor Maria Teresa Kumar speculated that the El Paso mass shooting could be politically advantageous for presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke during an exchange on MSNBC Tuesday morning.
"Maria, Beto has said he is running in the name of decency and democracy. As bad as this may sound, could this moment be a chance for Beto to gain some momentum?" Ruhle asked.
"I think so. When you look at who the president is most afraid of, you often hear within inner circles that Beto is the one that concerns him," Teresa Kumar responded. "It's not only because he was able to capture the imagination of progressive Texas. He got over 500,000 Republicans to vote for him and he got a lot of independents to vote for him."
O'Rourke blasted President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the shooting, blaming Trump's rhetoric for encouraging violence and promoting racism.
"No one should be surprised, no one should be asking themselves how this could happen in our country," O'Rourke said during an appearance on MSNBC.
"Let's not forget Obama lost Texas by 16 points. Four years later Hillary lost by nine. And two years later Beto lost by merely two. It is significant because right now Arizona just went purple. That's 11 electoral votes. Texas is 38 electoral votes. If you were to ask me who has more chance of flipping, Texas or Florida, I would make my bet on Texas," Teresa Kumar continued.
GOP National Spokesperson Liz Harrington initially called attention to the exchange on Twitter.
Disgusting!
MSNBC: "As bad as this may sound, could this moment be a chance for Beto to gain momentum?"
"I think so."
For the Democrats and the media, it's all about politics pic.twitter.com/xEEY6Gfsew
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) August 6, 2019