Cruz Opponent Robert 'Beto' O'Rourke Gets 4 Pinocchios After Lying About DUI
There is no doubt that the liberal media is fully supportive of Democrat Rep. Robert “Beto” O’Rourke’s effort to unseat incumbent Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the upcoming midterm elections.
Yet, O’Rourke made a provably false statement in a recent debate with Cruz that was so egregious even the fact-checker of The Washington Post — not exactly a bastion of conservatism — felt compelled to grant the grossly inaccurate statement four Pinocchios, the media outlet’s worst rating for lies that are simply described as “whoppers” containing no elements of truth whatsoever.
During the debate, O’Rourke was asked directly about an incident that occurred in 1998 in which O’Rourke was admittedly drunk and wrecked his vehicle. It had been previously reported that O’Rourke initially attempted to flee the scene of the accident prior to the arrival of police, but that he’d been stopped from doing so by a witness to the accident.
O’Rourke said, “I did not try to leave the scene of the accident, though driving drunk, which I did, is a terrible mistake for which there is no excuse or justification or defense, and I will not try to provide one.”
The Post deemed that statement to be a “well-practiced answer” that was nevertheless provably false, based on contemporaneous accounts of the incident like the police reports filed in the immediate aftermath.
The incident occurred around 3 a.m. on Sept. 27, 1998, in the El Paso suburb of Anthony, Texas. O’Rourke had been out drinking that night in celebration of his 26th birthday and was reported to have struck a vehicle traveling the same direction as him on Interstate 10 prior to crossing over the median and coming to a stop on the opposite side of the interstate.
He is then alleged to have attempted to drive away from the scene, only to be stopped by the unnamed individual who reported the incident to police. The police officers ultimately arrested O’Rourke for driving while intoxicated.
According to the initial complaint filed by the responding officer, Richard Carrera, suspect Robert F. O’Rourke — as “Beto” is identified in all of the various pages of the reports — Carrera noted that O’Rourke had “slurred speech” and that his “breath smelled of an alcohol beverage” as well as the fact that he had “extreme difficulty in maintaining balance.”
In the offense report filed with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Officer Carrera wrote that O’Rourke “almost fell to the floor” when asked to exit his vehicle, and noted that O’Rourke had admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages as well as the fact that he was incapable of completing the standard roadside sobriety checks — such as standing on one foot or walking a straight line — as O’Rourke repeatedly “failed by totally losing his balance.”
O’Rourke was then transported by Carrera to an El Paso Police substation where he was twice administered a breathalyzer test, blowing .136 and .134, both of which were above the legal blood-alcohol limit at that time of .10. Based on O’Rourke’s reported weight of 190 pounds, it likely would have required at least six alcoholic drinks for him to reach that level of intoxication, quite a few drinks more than the “two” he had admitted to having earlier in the evening.
As to the claim that O’Rourke attempted to flee the scene of the accident, Carrera mentioned that fact in the Incident and Crime Report filed with the Anthony Police Department — “driver attempted to leave the accident but was stopped by reporter” — as well as the Offense Report filed with the Texas DPS — “The defendant/driver attempted to leave the scene, the reporter then turned on his overhead lights to warn oncoming traffic and to try to get the defendant to stop.”
The Post noted that there were some inconsistencies with the collection of reports — O’Rourke’s Volvo was described as both black and green, and it is unclear if O’Rourke was traveling east or west on I-10 — and also pointed out that police reports can be incomplete or contain incorrect information.
It was also noted that O’Rourke was never charged with attempting to leave the scene of the accident and that only the one uncorroborated witness alleged as much. (On a side note, I thought Democrats were now totally cool with destroying a person’s career and reputation based solely on uncorroborated reports from single accusers, but I digress.)
However, the weight of the contemporaneous police reports filed just hours after the incident occurred was deemed greater than any minor inconsistencies in the reports, not to mention O’Rourke’s admittedly alcohol-clouded memories of the event that transpired 20 years ago, thus, he received the worst of The Post’s ratings for his false statement, four Pinocchios.
“O’Rourke could have dodged the question during the debate or he could have said his memory of the night is not clear. Instead, he chose to dispute the factual record. We also believe in second chances, and O’Rourke should revise his answer if given another opportunity. In the meantime, he earns Four Pinocchios,” concluded fact-checker Glenn Kessler.
When even The Washington Post is calling out O’Rourke for lying about the details of his 1998 DWI arrest, you know O’Rourke’s lie was pretty blatant and egregious, and conceivably a campaign-killer … as it most likely would instantly be for any Republican candidate for office.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
