Beto O’Rourke, the Texas Democrat who narrowly lost the election for a Senate seat to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, told TMZ he is “honored” that former President Barack Obama compared himself to him amid speculation of O’Rourke running for president in 2020.
“I think that’s cool that he said that and, look, I’m honored that he’s taking any notice at all,” O’Rourke said.
O’Rourke did not rule out running for president in 2020, but said he is “not planning to and just focusing on family right now.”
He added that he had never considered trying to become president and instead as a child “dreamed about being in The Beatles.”
However, O’Rourke did say that he wants “to be helpful in whatever way I can to make sure that this country lives up to its promise. I don’t know what capacity that would be in.”
Obama told CNN after the midterms that O’Rourke was “impressive” and ran a “terrific” race.
The former president added that he was most impressed by O’Rourke’s authenticity and that his campaign “didn't feel constantly poll-tested," something Obama said was like himself, insisting that when he ran for president "The reason I was able to make a connection with a sizable portion of the country was because people had a sense that I said what I meant."
Obama added, however, that “there are others” he considered strong candidates for the Democratic nomination in 2020, saying "We've got a number of people who are thinking about the race who fall in that same category.”
Despite the praise, Obama did not endorse O’Rourke in the midterms, according to Newsweek.
This was apparently because Obama did not want to cause difficulties for candidates in red states by giving his endorsement.
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