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BRIANA: AS WE MENTIONED, BUT TO O’ROURKE -- BETO O’ROURKE CAME TO GREENVILLE. BRANDON: HE TOURED THE NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS CENTER AND MUSEUM. STEVE: 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE THAT HAVE -- BETO O’ ROURKE IS HELPING PEOPLE REALIZE HOW PRESIDENT TRUMP’S RECKLESSNESS AND RACISM IS HARMING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. THAT IS WHY HE CAME TO THE MUSEUM IN GREENSBORO TODAY. >> IF WE NEED THE INSPIRATION, IT IS RIGHT NOW. THE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES OF THAT RACISM AND THE CHANCE TO CONFRONT THAT SQUARELY USING THE INSPIRATION OF THE PEOPLE IN THE HISTORY OF GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA. STEVE: HE SAID THE PRESIDENT’S WORDS ARE NOT JUST OFFENSIVE, BUT CAUSING VIOLENCE. >> PRESIDENT TRUMP IS DANGEROUS FOR THIS COUNTRY AND POSES ANNEXES TO ENJOY THREAT FOR MANY AMERICANS. ONLY BY SPEAKING CLEARLY AND ACTING DECISIVELY WILL WE BE ABLE TO SAVE LIVES OF FELLOW AMERICANS. ENDING RACISM AND MAKING SURE WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORISM IS A PRIORITY FOR DOMESTIC LAW ENFORCEMENT, CHANGING GUN LAWS TO PROTECT THE LIVES OF OUR FELLOW AMERICANS. >> IT WAS HIS SECOND VISIT TO THE TRIAD IN FIVE MONTHS. HE WANTS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GREENSBORO CITIZENS. -- GREENSBORO SIT-INS. >> WE NEED THE SAME KIND OF HEROISM, COURAGE, LEADERSHIP, AND THE ABILITY TO GAIN THE ATTENTION IT CHANGE THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE COUNTRY IN 2019. IN MANY WAYS, IT IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS IT WAS IN 1960. STEVE: THEN

Advertisement 2020 Presidential Candidate Beto O'Rourke campaigns in Greensboro for second time Democratic 2020 Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke visited Greensboro for the second time in about five months on Thursday, making stops at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro as well as North Carolina A&T State University. Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Democratic 2020 Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke visited Greensboro for the second time in about five months on Thursday, making stops at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro as well as North Carolina A&T State University.While addressing the media, the former US Representative from Texas explained why he wanted to visit the museum and learn more about the Greensboro sit-ins.“We need the same kind of heroism and courage and leadership and the ability to gain the attention and change the conscious of the country in 2019 and in many ways that is just as important as it was in 1960,” said O’Rourke.“Not only did they force the conscious of this country, they also forced an economic issue for the community of Greensboro and forced the change that otherwise would not have happened so I think about all the intractable problems that we seem to face right now, whether it is the continuing challenge of civil rights or equality or equity, but for that matter, climate, or gun violence or healthcare in America, to learn and be inspired by this leadership, I think is fundamental to our ability that we have today.”O’Rourke also told members of the media that a key goal in his campaign is to “encourage Americans to connect the dots on how Trump’s recklessness and racism is harming the American people.”“It is such a dominant feature of President Trump’s administration. His open racism, the way that he has described Muslims as a threat to this country. Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals and drug dealers, though they commit crimes at a far lower rate, the way that he asked four members of Congress, all women of color, to go back to their country or sought to elevate clansmen by calling them, ‘very fine people,’ it is not just that it offends our sensibilities and flies in the face of the words 243 years ago that we were, ‘All created equal,’ it is also changing us. The mosque that was burned down, the synagogue in which a killer entered with a weapon of war to kill parishioners in fear of caravans that he thought that they were funding, the 22 people dead at a Walmart on August 3rd of this year in El Paso, Texas as the killer inspired by the president’s words, echoing them in the manifesto he published just before he went on that killing spree helps us to make the connections and draw the conclusion that President Trump is dangerous for this country and poses an existential threat for many Americans. Only by saying that, speaking clearly and acting decisively are we going to be able to save the lives of our fellow Americans and then save this country. Trying to end racism and making sure that white supremist terrorism is a priority for domestic law enforcement and then changing the gun laws to protect our fellow Americans, all of those are priorities for this country,” O’Rourke said.The presidential candidate says that he also wanted to visit Greensboro as much as he has in order to draw inspiration from the Greensboro sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement.“If we ever needed that inspiration, it is right now, given the rampant racism that we face open from the President of the United States, the tragic consequences of that racism that we’re seeing throughout this country right now and the chance to confront that squarely, perhaps using the inspiration of the people in the history of Greensboro, North Carolina, not just from 1960, but those leaders who I just met today in 2019. Not just those students from A&T back then, but the students from A & T right now,” said O’Rourke.The El Paso native went to North Carolina A&T State University to meet students following his tour of the museum. Before leaving the museum, O’Rourke discussed the foiled possible mass shooting at High Point University this week, and what needs to be done to prevent gun violence in the future.“The answer to this is ensuring that we have gun laws that prevent this kind of violence and terrorism from taking place. It means that we ensure that people feel safe and don’t fear walking into a classroom and walking out in public and that we significantly reduce the number of gun violence deaths in this country, which last year approached 40,000. No other developed, wealthy country on the planet comes even close,” O’Rourke said.O’Rourke will make campaign stops in Virginia and Pennsylvania when he leaves North Carolina. He will participate in the third Democratic Debate on September 12th.O’Rourke graduated from Columbia University with a degree in English Literature. He became one of the youngest members to ever sit on the El Paso City Council when he was elected to the council in 2005. He later beat a 16-year incumbent to become a U.S. Representative in Texas in 2012. He served three terms as US Representative before narrowly losing the race for Texas US Senator against incumbent Republican Ted Cruz, in a campaign that drew national attention.