He almost did it. In a tight Texas Senate race, Democrat Beto O’Rourke narrowly lost to incumbent Junior Senator Ted Cruz by 51 to 48 percent. But in the end, O’Rourke’s electric grassroots campaign still wasn’t enough to flip Texas blue, even as Democrats nationally regained control of the House.
Glass half full, this leaves Beto open for a possible 2020 presidential run, but for Texas progressives, Tuesday night ended on a somber note. In his hometown of El Paso, O’Rourke addressed a crowd of his supporters with a passionate, moving concession speech to thank them for all of their hard work. And like the cool, skateboarding, former grunge band-member of a candidate Beto was, he even managed to pepper in an F-bomb into his speech.
“I want to thank this amazing campaign of people,” Beto told the still-cheering crowd. “Not a dime from a single PAC. All of you showing the country how to do this. I am so fucking proud of you guys.”
Unfortunately for cable news networks, some were airing the speech live and didn’t have a chance to censor the profanity. “Sorry for the F-bomb,” MSNBC anchor Brian Williams noted, “We have no control of what’s in the concession speeches.”
You can watch his full speech below: