Former Congressman and Democratic Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke released a TikTok video that made its way to Twitter on Thursday.
The video begins with a woman dancing with a caption that reads, “a Texas Woman who just wants rights.” The caption is a reference to the abortion limitations imposed in Texas after the overturning of Roe v. Wade during the summer, according to the Texas Tribune.
The video then transitions to O’Rourke mimicking the woman’s dance moves in a halting, jerking fashion while smirking at the camera. The in-video caption describes O’Rourke optimistically as “a pro-choice governor who is ready to fight for her.”
AAAAHHHH pic.twitter.com/474quYDkYZ
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) November 3, 2022
“How was this not flagged by a staffer?,” Nate Hochman, who posted the tweet, asked. He later tweeted a similar video posted by Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
In the Texas Gubernatorial race, incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott currently has a 9-point advantage going into the election, according to RealClearPolitics. One poll conducted by the University of Houston has Abbott up by 13 points. (Related: Texas Midterm Election Betting Odds – Election Forecast for 2022)
O’Rourke’s pivot to TikTok seems to echo the overall shift by Democrats towards advocating for a strong pro-abortion stance, leveraging the overturn of Roe v. Wade. This has been characterized by campaign promises to “codify Roe, once and for all,” as President Joe Biden vowed in a speech to the Democratic National Committee in October.
According to a recent poll from Gallup, 51% of Democrats said that abortion was “extremely important,” compared to 38% of Independents and 37% of Republicans. Among the voters overall, the economy ranked higher in importance at 49% compared to abortion at only 42%, a number mostly driven by Democrats.