BLUE WAVE
‘More Like BAE-To’: Texas GOP’s Twitter ‘Attack’ on Beto O’Rourke Makes Democrat ‘Look Even Cooler’

‘I Just Fell More in Love’
The Texas GOP is trying really, really hard to be cool – and they’re failing miserably. It seems their Twitter game needs some work. Over the past 24 hours or so the Lone Star State’s Republican Party tried to troll Beto O’Rourke.
It didn’t go well.
Beto O’Rourke is the Democratic U.S. Congressman who’s challenging Senator Ted Cruz. The Republican failed presidential candidate and freshman Senator isn’t the, shall we say, coolest guy around? So the Texas GOP tried to take his opponent down by… showing off just how cool O’Rourke really is, as Mashable reported.
Like we said, the Texas GOP’s game needs some work, probably starting with its social media campaign planning.
Here’s how they first tried to attack O’Rourke: a tweet blasting him for (they say) refusing to agree to Cruz’s debate demands. It features an old photo of a young Beto who was a bassist for a punk rock band called Foss.
As it turns out, a candidate with a cool past isn’t a bad thing.
This makes me like him more. We need elected officials who’ve lived life, who aren’t walking corpses in suits. #backfire
— Josh Morgerman (@iCyclone) August 29, 2018
Texas GOP out here making Beto look even cooler https://t.co/4XzOSxNXNY
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) August 29, 2018
omfg how is this bad
look how cool Beto looks
I just fell more in love https://t.co/Dev0Qzl2O5
— #ShePersisted✨ (@elizagolightly4) August 29, 2018
Beto: cooler than we even thought. https://t.co/o7sb8xmqL3
— KShay (@Loliryder) August 29, 2018
texas GOP: don’t vote for the cool guy who was in a band vote for the irredeemable dork who bought 100 cans of soup on his honeymoon https://t.co/7QiYsl9Jh3
— josh terry (@JoshhTerry) August 29, 2018
This photo has triggered a sexual awakening in me. https://t.co/ChFNVTJKtf
— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) August 29, 2018
So, clearly, punk rock band bassist turned U.S. Congressman was not the avenue to take to make O’Rourke look bad.
So the Texas GOP tried another angle.
O’Rourke’s mug shot.
Yes, Beto O’Rourke “was charged with burglary in 1995 for jumping a fence and was arrested for a DUI in 1998, but is open about his past,” Mashable reports.
There’s always the chance that Robert “Beto” O’Rourke won’t debate Senator Cruz because he got into a hazy situation… pic.twitter.com/4nmd42AEkl
— Texas GOP (@TexasGOP) August 29, 2018
Unsurprisingly, this angle did not work any better.
Social media users started posting mug shots of the many Texas Republicans who have been arrested. Including former President George W. Bush, former Gov. Rick Perry, and current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to name a few.
And then, the comments about O’Rourke’s photo came flooding through.
wow more like BAE-to o’rourke, tbh https://t.co/XTcMz5FAGS
— maya kosoff (@mekosoff) August 29, 2018
“Do you really want this HOT, REFORMED BAD BOY, TEENAGE HEARTTHROB, WHO WAS IN A BAND as your senator????” https://t.co/xGA168qoCY
— Lara Soro (@lara_soro) August 29, 2018
beto has really great hair here https://t.co/rI2aWsBiBg
— Calvin (@calvinstowell) August 29, 2018
First: Wowzers. *fans self*… uh, where was I? Oh yes: Seriously, @TexasGOP, just stop. You clearly know not what you do (as illustrated by, among other things, the embarrassing number of prominent Republican mugshots in the replies.) https://t.co/PESdL6YxRJ
— Butterflyminder, keeper of fluttery thoughts (@Butterflyminder) August 29, 2018
I’m sorry but the only thing this photo illustrates is that he could Beto my bussy up any time. https://t.co/0R97sz3PrY
— Gabe Gonzalez (@gaybonez) August 29, 2018
“Let’s post the viciously sexy headshot from our opponent’s lowest point, which he has addressed and apologized for, while our guy looks like Grimace and hasn’t explained why he’s fallen in line behind the guy who called his wife ugly and his dad a murderer.” U R KILLIN THE GAME! https://t.co/s7T4iQkPMD
— Dave Holmes (@DaveHolmes) August 29, 2018
Starting to like Beto more https://t.co/jngifvOuqB
— Lamarx Odom (@IamJackieLegs) August 29, 2018
Listen if your opponent’s mug shot looks like a GQ cover, I wouldn’t spread that around. https://t.co/J2U6rCLD1G
— Victoria (@Topsy_Tori) August 29, 2018
So, the Texas GOP, having failed to make Beto look bad – actually winning him a few more supporters, no doubt – decided to break one of the first rules in politics: attack voters.
Based on the reaction to our tweets we can confirm that Beto is in fact going to receive 100% of the vote from Buzzfeed contributors, out of state liberals, and people who use the word “rad.” We feel very owned :'(
— Texas GOP (@TexasGOP) August 29, 2018
Like we said. It didn’t go well.
But we’re looking forward to the next O’Rourke vs. Cruz poll numbers!
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