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U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and acknowledged that his stance on the "take-a-knee" movement upset some people, including one of his closest friends.
In the show taped in Burbank, Calif., which aired Wednesday, the El Paso Democrat said that after he made the comments supporting NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, a Vietnam-era veteran he identified as Bobby Rangel told him "that answer really disappointed me."
"And that hurt me to hear that. And yet, it’s important for me to hear that," O'Rourke told DeGeneres. "And Bobby and I are going to be friends, and we are going to be OK and this country is going to be OK.
"But it’s hard to think of a major or important or significant change that we’ve made as a country that wasn’t painful, that didn’t require these difficult conversations."
The appearance with the popular talk show host, with was prompted by DeGeneres' favorable reaction to the take-a-knee video that has drawn 44 million views, gives O'Rourke national exposure as his race with Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz enters the two-month sprint to the Nov. 6 election.
The take-a-knee remarks, delivered last month at a town hall meeting Houston, drew fire from Cruz, who has released an online ad featuring a Vietnam veteran who lost his legs.
"I gave two legs for this country. I’m not able to stand," says the veteran, Tim Lee. "But I sure expect you to stand for me when the national anthem is being played.”
During the one-on-one interview with DeGeneres, many of O'Rourke's comments were greeted with enthusiastic cheers, including when he described answering the question about whether professional athletes should kneel during the anthem or be required to stand.
US Senate Candidate Beto O'Rourke Gets Candid on His DUI
"These unguarded moments with one another that ultimately produce change and progress in the right direction," he said. "And so, I hope, in some small way, we’ve contributed to that in the conversation that we’ve had that’s been shared now."
DeGeneres also asked him about being arrested at age 26 on a drunken-driving charge. O'Rourke called it a "terrible mistake."
"There’s no explanation or justifying that," he said. "Since then, I have gone on with friends to start a business, with (his wife) Amy, to raise a family, serving my community in the United States Congress."
O'Rourke also acknowledged that if he were a member of ethnic minority group, the outcome for him might have been different.
"I know that if I were African-American, if I had been arrested with marijuana, it might be very hard for me to then get a job," he said. "I’d have to check a box on an application form; I couldn’t finance my student loans. That might very well narrow my choices and options in life."
Several recent polls show the Cruz-O'Rourke race within single digits, even though Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. Cruz, in campaign appearances, frequently links O'Rourke to what the Republican refers to as "Hollywood liberals" out of touch with the values of Texas conservatives.
Last week, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he plans to come to Texas sometime in October to campaign for Cruz, his one-time rival for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
DeGeneres noted that the president's tweets contained several put-downs, calling O'Rourke "weak on Second Amendment, Crime, Borders, Military, and Vets!"
O'Rourke declined to take the bait.
"First of all, we welcome the president to Texas and we are glad that he’s coming," he said. "Texas is the most diverse state in the country. It’s the defining immigrant story and experience."
DeGeneres and O'Rourke also traded effusive back-and-forth compliments.
"If you don’t mind me saying, to me, you embody so much of what that country needs right now," O'Rourke told the host. "You are kindness, you are joy. You are meeting difficulty and disappointment with a power and joy of connecting with people and bringing the best out of people. "
DeGeneres replied: "I think that you are a brilliant man."
John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at John.Moritz@caller.com and follow him on Twitter @JohnnieMo.
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