Former Texas congressman and 2020 Democratic primary candidate Robert "Beto" O’Rourke is in a tough spot.

There is no real, animating principle behind his White House bid — nothing deeper than “Hey, why not me?” — and the people who billed him last year as the latest, greatest, most exciting political prodigy since former President Barack Obama have taken notice. Never mind that O’Rourke’s vacuity was obvious when he ran against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. How major newsrooms managed to miss this even as they built up the Democratic candidate as God’s gift to the electorate is anyone’s guess.

O’Rourke seems to have noticed that his allies in the press and politics are speaking openly now about his lack of substance, so he is now throwing red meat at the Democratic base to disguise the fact that he is a bored white guy who decided to run for the nomination because he could.

On Thursday, for example, O'Rourke told a group of supporters that climate change is responsible for the crisis at the U.S. southern border. Sure, why not?

"These storms, these floods, the historic wildfires that we saw in California, the droughts through which our farmers in Texas attempt to persist to grow the food and the fiber that feeds and clothes not just this country but the world, are going to be exponentially worse going forward," O'Rourke said at a campaign event in Salem, N.H. “There were 400,000 apprehensions at our border with Mexico last year. As you know, many of them were kids — kids who, if they were lucky, showed up with their parents.”

And here I was thinking the border crisis was due primarily to corruption and gang violence. At least, that is what the people coming here say. But what do they know? Droughts and poor harvests could, in theory, play a role, but it is not so linear as some make it out to be.

“[I]ncreasingly, we are finding that those who are arriving are farmers from Honduras who are trying to plant what used to grow but does not any longer because they, too, are in historic droughts and cannot feed themselves,” O’Rourke told an audience of about 100 people, according to the Washington Examiner’s Emily Larsen.

He added, “If you think 400,000 is bad, wait until some countries in the Western Hemisphere can no longer support human life, because that is the direction we are headed.”

A twofer! He addressed their concerns about illegal immigration, in which he favors minimal enforcement, while also addressing their fears about climate change.

This is about as transparent an attempt to pander to the Democratic base as O’Rourke’s recent support for impeaching President Trump. Remember: In 2017, when he served in Congress, O’Rourke said he supported impeachment. Articles were then brought twice to the House for a vote, and he voted against them each time. Then, as a Senate candidate, he was for impeachment again. Later, after he announced his presidential bid, he moderated his tone. But now he is for it again.

If he keeps this up, maybe primary voters won’t notice that he will say just about anything to get their vote.

Maybe.