A friend of Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke said he is not sure the former congressman and Texas Democratic Senate candidate is ready to be president.
Steve Ortega, who served with O'Rourke on the El Paso City Council, made the comments during a segment that aired Thursday on CNN's "OutFront."
"Why is he ready to be president?" CNN's Jeff Zeleny asked.
"I'm not sure he is, and I think that's why he is still deciding what he wants to do," Ortega said.
"He's going to have to justify to himself that he thinks he's the best person for the job and that's a very deliberate process that he's probably going through right now," Ortega added.
2020 presidential nominee rumors continue to swirl around former Texas Rep. @BetoORourke as he embarks on a road trip to get out of a "funk." CNN's @jeffzeleny reports. https://t.co/ojTRUmRqXt pic.twitter.com/EKPrNQmm9n
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) January 17, 2019
Politico reported on Wednesday that O'Rourke's advisers are planning a potential presidential run while he embarks on a road trip.
The potential 2020 candidate indicated in a Medium post that he's looking forward to "get moving" on the road and shake off the "funk" he's been in and out of recently.
"In and out of a funk. My last day of work was January 2nd. It’s been more than twenty years since I was last not working. Maybe if I get moving, on the road, meet people, learn about what’s going on where they live, have some adventure, go where I don’t know and I’m not known, it’ll clear my head, reset, I’ll think new thoughts, break out of the loops I’ve been stuck in," O'Rourke wrote.
O'Rourke was criticized earlier this week after he gave vague answers in an interview addressing a number of policy questions. In the interview, he questioned the relevance of the Constitution, wondering whether the United States can "still be managed by the same principles that were set down 230-plus years ago."
He equivocated on a number of policy questions, answering "I don't know" when asked what to do about illegal immigrants who overstayed visas.
As for the planned removal of troops from Syria, O'Rourke said there needs to be "a debate, a discussion, a national conversation about why we’re there, why we fight, why we sacrifice the lives of American service members, why we’re willing to take the lives of others."