In an ethnically charged tweet on St. Patrick’s Day, the GOP tied Beto O’Rourke’s decades-old DUI to his Irish heritage.
“On this St. Paddy’s Day, a special message from noted Irishman Robert Francis O’Rourke. Please drink responsibly,” the official GOP account tweeted along with the former Texas congressman’s mugshot and a superimposed green leprechaun hat.
The 46-year-old El Paso native was busted in September 1998 for misdemeanor DWI.
O’Rourke, then 26, completed a court-approved diversion program and the charges were dropped.
The negative response to the GOP was quick.
“As an Irishman this is deplorable,” tweeted Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004. “As an American it is unpatriotic. As a human it is racist.”
Bush himself was arrested for drunk driving in 1976 in Maine.
On this St. Paddy’s Day, a special message from noted Irishman Robert Francis O’Rourke. pic.twitter.com/JRjMEXhZRY
— GOP (@GOP) March 17, 2019
Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, was arrested in 2001 for public drunkenness during Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans. He spent 11 hours in jail
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of the most pro-Trump politicians in D.C., was arrested for a DUI in 2008.
Matt Gaetz mugshot from 2008.
In 2012, Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) was arrested for DUI in Alexandria, Virgnia.
Crapo says of the situation, ““I have relived it many times in my mind, and still do, wishing every time I could take it back.”
“If you think you’re funny or clever by stereotyping and making fun of any race or nationality to score political points, you’re an idiot, and you should probably not tweet,” tweeted Doug Stafford, the chief strategist for Rand Paul.
“Will an adult please take the Twitter keys away from whichever child is tweeting at the RNC?,” tweeted conservative activist Erick Erickson.
O’Rourke, who lost his Senate race to Ted Cruz in the midterms, announced his 2020 presidential campaign last week.
Young, energetic and a positive campaigner, he is viewed by many as the biggest threat to Trump’s reelection hopes.
“This is going to be a positive campaign that seeks to bring out the very best from every single one of us, that seeks to unite a very divided country,” O’Rourke said in a video announcement. “We saw the power of this in Texas.”
O’Rourke launched his campaign with three days in Iowa, then moved on to Wisconsin this weekend.