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Beto O'Rourke: “That weapon [AR-15] was originally designed for use on the…”

Featuring: Beto O'Rourke, Democratic | Former Candidate, Governor of Texas

Is Texas Still a Democracy? with Beto O’Rourke

Published August 13, 2025 | Video Starts at 42:34

So how do you feel when you, shortly after the tragedy at Uvalde, are hosting a rally and then this happens? You could buy two or more if you want to, AR15s, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and take That weapon [AR-15] was originally designed for use on the battlefields in Vietnam to penetrate an enemy soldier's helmet at 500ft. and knock him down dead up against kids at 5ft? It may be funny to you, motherfucker, but it's not funny to me, okay? (42:34–45:02)

CLAIM

Asserts that the AR-15 was designed for military use in Vietnam.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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“It's the largest binational community in the Western Hemisphere, maybe the largest binational community in the world.”
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“By the numbers, it's one of the safest cities in America. Some years it was, bar none, the safest city in the United States of America.”
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“Entry into this country, illegal entry into this country is at an all-time low.”
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“In Texas, you can't use your student ID at the University of Texas at Austin to prove who you are at the polling place, but you can use your…”
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“Texas leads the nation in school shootings.”
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“We took no PAC money and, and not corporate PAC money, but also not liberal PAC money, no Planned Parenthood, no Sierra Club, just, just…”
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“We went to each of the 254 counties of Texas.”
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“We won more votes than any Democrat, first since LBJ in 1964, to win the five major urban areas and their surrounding counties.”
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“We got within two and a half points of Ted Cruz.”
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“12 insurgent Democrats defeated 12 incumbent Republicans for the state House.”
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“Two Democrats defeated two incumbents, incumbent entrenched, well funded Republicans for the United States Congress.”
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“In Houston, Texas, the most diverse City In America, 17 black women won election to judicial positions.”
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“In 2018, I won the votes of those cast by people born in Texas.”
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“Ted Cruz beat me with people who had moved to our state from California and other places.”
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“In 22, I was taken on Greg Abbott, who outspent me nearly 2 to 1.”
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“Ken Paxton is the Attorney General for the state of Texas. He has been indicted twice under active FBI investigation.”
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“He [Mandani] meets the needs of those that he wants to serve clearly with well-defined policy positions.”
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“He was impeached by the state legislature for alleged crimes that he had committed.”
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“A state legislature dominated by Republicans of his own party.”
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“He is deeply popular with the most extreme magasite side of the Republican base in Texas.”
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“His effort to incite an insurrection against the country's government in which he serves to try to overturn a lawfully, fairly…”
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“The previous administration and their Department of Justice didn't prosecute those, like Donald Trump or like Ted Cruz, who are responsible…”
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“Donald Trump, once he is in office, pardoned each and every single one of them, including the ones, especially the ones who beat those cops…”
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“El Paso is pretty geographically and politically isolated from the rest of the country.”
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“It's safe not in spite of the fact that we are a city full of immigrants. It's safe because we are a city full of immigrants.”
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“There's a correlation between immigrants making our communities better, stronger, and, yes, safer as well.”
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“ICE was already going into our communities with plain clothes, masked agents sweeping people off the street without badges or warrants.”
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“Illegally detaining, imprisoning, in many cases, deporting people, in some cases to a gulag in El Salvador notorious for torture and…”
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“They're having a hard time finding enough immigrants to deport in these big sweeps through American cities.”
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“I'd also remind folks that this stuff is deeply unpopular on immigration, arguably Trump's signature policy issue.”
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“It's legal. Doesn't make it right. But they're essentially, this is a process by which members of Congress get to choose their Voters…”
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“He literally ordered Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans there find me five new Republican seats.”
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“This is done through computers, not through people to maximize partisan advantage for one party.”
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“Republicans fear that [voters under the age of 30] will lose that power.”
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“You have to pass a background check if you buy from a federally licensed gun shop.”
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“Eight people died in Midland, Odessa because we didn't have a background check.”
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“Democrats are always reactive and on the defense against Donald Trump.”
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