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Beto O’Rourke Won’t Say If He Wants Biden to Campaign for Him in Texas Senate Race Amid Waning Support for President

Democratic presidential candidate former Rep. Beto O鈥橰ourke (D-Texas) speaks to the media as he visits the outside of a detention center for migrant children in Homestead, Fla., on Jun. 27, 2019. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Texas governor candidate Beto O鈥橰ourke won’t say if he wants President Joe Biden to campaign for him in the Texas gubernatorial race amid dwindling support for the administration and reports of growing tensions in the West Wing.

O鈥橰ourke announced his campaign for Texas governor last week,聽targeting the incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott who is seeking a third term.

When asked in a聽CNN interview if he would welcome Biden to travel to Texas and campaign with him, O鈥橰ourke聽sidestepped a direct answer, saying his聽campaign is “not going to be about anyone from outside of our state.”

When asked the question again,聽O鈥橰ourke reiterated that his campaign would remain focused on Texas and not聽national politics.

“This campaign in Texas is not going to be about Joe Biden. It’s not going to be about Donald Trump. It’s not going to be about anyone from outside of our state. This is going to be about the people of Texas and what the people of Texas want,” O’Rourke said.

“And I have told you, they want the big things, like jobs, great schools, and making sure everyone can see a doctor. But they also want to see some competence in their government,”聽he added, noting the聽electricity grid failure earlier this year that left millions without power and hundreds dead.

When asked again if that means he would not want the president to join him in his campaign,聽O鈥橰ourke explained, “It means that I’m focused on Texas and on my fellow Texans. Those are the people most important to me. re’s no politician, there’s no other person from outside of this state who can help to change the course of this election, for better or for worse.”

O’Rourke’s reluctance to invite Biden to campaign with him may signal broader concerns among聽Democrats that associating with the president could backfire on their chances to secure key positions in 2022.

聽governor candidate’s comments come as Biden’s support ratings among American’s continues to drop. A聽Quinnipiac University poll聽showed 36 percent of respondents approve of Biden’s handling of his job, compared to 53 percent who disapprove, signaling the lowest聽level of public support for the president in Quinnipiac polling since he took office in the White House in January.

Meanwhile, a Marquette University Law School poll showed聽49 percent of respondents approve of Biden’s handling of his job, while聽51 percent disapprove.

O’Rourke comments also come following the聽Democratic Party’s loss in the race for the governorship of聽Virginia earlier this month, when聽Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe on Nov. 2, despite the latter receiving campaign support from聽Biden, Vice President Harris and other leading Democratic figures

contest in Virginia was one of the most closely watched races in the off-year election and was viewed by some as a referendum on the Biden presidency.

Added to that are reports of growing tensions in the West Wing between the President and聽Vice President聽Kamala Harris, with some of her staff members claiming that she 聽is not being 鈥渁dequately prepared or positioned, and instead is being sidelined.”

vice president has also been noticeably absent from the spotlight since taking up her role nearly 11 months ago, adding further speculation that she is being sidelined.

Harris herself saw her approval ratings drop to 28 percent, 10 percent below that of President Joe Biden鈥檚, as per a聽Suffolk/USA Today聽poll.聽 same poll showed that 51 percent of Americans聽disapprove聽of the job聽Harris is doing while 21 percent are聽undecided.

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