Why Ask the Question When You Already Know the Answer?

In the wake of a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas in which a gunman killed 20 people, presidential candidate and Texan Beto O’Rourke joined a grieving community in solidarity and, rightly, told a reporter to more or less fuck off after being asked a willfully obtuse question about our white nationalist president.

A reporter asked O’Rourke, who represented El Paso in Congress from 2013 to 2019, if he believes there’s anything President Trump can do in the wake of the shooting to “make this better.” CNN’s Eric Bradner captured audio of O’Rourke’s refreshing, impatient response:

What do you think? You know the shit he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I don’t know, like, members of the press, what the fuck? Hold on a second. You know, I — it’s these questions that you know the answers to. I mean, connect the dots about what he’s been doing in this country. He’s not tolerating racism, he’s promoting racism. He’s not tolerating violence, he’s inciting racism and violence in this country. So, um, you know, I just — I don’t know what kind of question that is.

O’Rourke has remained an endlessly divisive figure in the Democratic primary, but his blunt response is exactly right here.