Beto O'Rourke, down significantly in the polls, cranked it up to eleven in his final debate with Senator Ted Cruz at the studios of KENS-5 TV in San Antonio last night, criticizing Cruz on a variety of issues, and even using President Trump's words to do it, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"Senator Cruz is not going to be honest with you," he said as Cruz laughed. "He is going to make up positions and voted that I have never held and never taken. That's why the President called him 'Lying Ted,' and the nickname stuck, because its true."
Cruz generally calmly recited his record and parried O'Rourke's criticisms.
"Its clear that Congressman O'Rourke's pollsters have told him to come out on the attack, so if he want sot insult me and call me a liar, that's fine," Cruz said. "But as John Adams said, facts are stubborn things."
O'Rourke blasted Cruz for allegedly using the disgraced firm Cambridge Analytica in his 2016 campaign, calling Curz 'all talk and no action,' and claiming he values personal political success more than representing the people of Texas.
"You have somebody who left the state of Texas within a year of being elected to represent all of us to run for another office," he said. "He hasn't been to all of the counties in Texas, but he has been to all 99 counties in Iowa."
O'Rourke also blasted Cruz for supporting last year's tax cuts, dragging out the standard Democrat line that the tax cuts 'benefitted only the rich.
Cruz said an O'Rourke victory would lead to two years of Congress being tied up in knots with impeachment proceedings against the President.
"Congressman O'Rourke again repeated his call for impeaching President Trump," he said. "That is the very essence of not civility," he said.
Anaysts agreed that neither candidate broke any new ground in last night's debate, with both playing to their bases and encouraging voter turnout. Early voting begins on Monday
.O'Rourke left San Antonio for McAllen, where is scheduled to appear on a CNN town hall. Cruz declined to appear on the program.
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