Today is St. Patrick’s Day, and to celebrate, the official GOP Twitter account started a huge backlash and engendered sympathy for a Democrat candidate for 2020 who was otherwise not having the best week: Beto O’Rourke.
The amazingly ill-advised tweet, complete with mugshot given photoshop treatment, went out just after noon, and the last two hours have been almost exclusively negative reactions from prominent accounts on both the left and the right.
It also harkens back to a time when everyone thought Irish people were simply drunks.
Here’s the awful tweet:
On this St. Paddy's Day, a special message from noted Irishman Robert Francis O'Rourke. pic.twitter.com/JRjMEXhZRY [1]
— GOP (@GOP) March 17, 2019 [2]
O’Rourke has been open about his DWI arrest more than 20 years ago. The charge was dismissed after O’Rourke completed a diversion program.
Three years earlier, he spent a night in El Paso County Jail for jumping a fence at the University of Texas. He was released on bail the next day.
“Both incidents were due to poor judgement and I have no excuse for my behavior then,” O’Rourke told reporters in August 2017. “I’m grateful for the second chance and believe that we all deserve second chances.”
“Beto” is a common Spanish nickname for people named Roberto. O’Rourke’s critics have accused the former El Past congressman of using a “Mexican nickname” to make himself more appealing to Hispanic voters. Donald Trump has often referred to the candidate by his given name rather than “Beto.”
And here are the replies about the GOP’s horrible tweet, starting with one that is a good summary of the general reaction.
“Irishman” is quite a loaded term for a political party to use alongside an arrest photo on St. Pat’s wknd. At Notre Dame and elsewhere, I know scholars who closely track the way Catholics and Irish Americans have been portrayed — and are still portrayed in America. https://t.co/M9aGI5uS5N [3]
— Robert Costa (@costareports) March 17, 2019 [4]
The adults in the room. The party of Lincoln, Ike, and Reagan. Today, I'm proud to be Irish. Less proud that stayed in the GOP longer than I should have. https://t.co/wPoQ7qPrER [5]
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 17, 2019 [6]
Let me get this straight: the @GOP [7] is mocking Beto O'Rourke by deploying vicious anti-Irish stereotypes that have historically been used to marginalize Irish immigrants and citizens while ignoring that Bush, Cheney, and Matt Gaetz have four DUIs between them. Classy. https://t.co/swSQDGbvsZ [8]
— Charlotte Clymer????️???? (@cmclymer) March 17, 2019 [9]
I applaud anyone who seeks help for an addiction. Given how many Republicans are afflicted with the same disease, you would think the @GOP [7] would, too. https://t.co/F26MQRHIXP [10]
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) March 17, 2019 [11]
This tweet risks alienating the GOP base: white people who fervently believe their Irish ancestors were slaves https://t.co/uJlTm0MC69 [12]
— David Klion???? (@DavidKlion) March 17, 2019 [13]
Jesus Christ GOP you don’t have to be racist against EVERY possible ethnicity https://t.co/0qhLJna0mv [14]
— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) March 17, 2019 [15]
Republicans hate the Irish #HappyStPatricksDay [16] https://t.co/vy8WX7eOaR [17]
— David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) March 17, 2019 [18]
Wut https://t.co/OWyY0Lj9GH [19]
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 17, 2019 [20]
Why https://t.co/FmJPOXBIND [21]
— The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) March 17, 2019 [22]
Will an adult please take the Twitter keys away from whichever child is tweeting at the RNC? https://t.co/Lw4NopybHK [23]
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) March 17, 2019 [24]
“We’ve alienated women, blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims, homosexuals and transgenders. We’re down to straight white Christian guys. Who’s next? https://t.co/NwwuVZwM66 [25]
— Charles Gaba (@charles_gaba) March 17, 2019 [26]
UPDATE:
O’Rourke has responded:
.@BetoORourke [27] responds to @GOP [7] St. Patrick’s Day tweet featuring his mug shot
“I think people want us focused on the big picture. They want us to be defined not by this pettiness or the personal attacks that we see in ones like the ad that you just described.” pic.twitter.com/AHcyPHWGsm [28]
— Johnny Verhovek (@JTHVerhovek) March 17, 2019 [29]