Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke is not going to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 2020. His campaign has hit a truck and spun to a halt just like that Volvo did. But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t keep this grift going. There are a lot of suckers out there, and they’ll keep cheering him on as long as he’s telling them what they want to hear.

Like this:

Hell yeah, we’re going to take your AR-15. If it’s a weapon that was designed to kill people on the battlefield, we’re going to buy it back. pic.twitter.com/cCEWkG6y0X — Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019

Well, he can’t “buy it back” because he didn’t sell it to anybody. What he’s proposing isn’t a buy-back, it’s confiscation. But forget it, he’s rolling.

This won’t convince anybody who doesn’t already agree with him, but it’s a great way to sell t-shirts to the rubes:

Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15. Buy your shirt now: https://t.co/kEJxoLvfH5 pic.twitter.com/KKpAKX4IL8 — Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019

He’s gonna do it! Well, not really, because he’s never going to be president. And even if he was, he couldn’t do what he’s promising to do. That’s not how it works. But he’s desperate to stay relevant, so at this point he’ll say anything.

This is different than what Beto said just last year, during his failed Senate run. Here’s what he told Chad Hasty on KFYO in Lubbock, less than 18 months ago, when he was asked about AR-15s:

“To be clear, they should have them. If you purchased that AR-15, if you own it, keep it. Continue to use it responsibly. I think Texas has a real opportunity to lead on this issue right now, because we so jealously guard that Second Amendment. We believe in it, we’ll defend it.”

“We.” Huh.

But that was before the shooting in El Paso, you might say. Okay. So what? Does Beto O’Rourke believe in the Second Amendment or not? Was he lying then, or is he lying now? Do your rights go away because other people abuse those rights?

Promising to punish law-abiding citizens seems like a strange way to convince them to vote for you. But at this point, what’s Beto got left? He’s no longer the Golden Boy. Everybody realizes now that he’s just a jittery, arm-waving doofus, a rich kid who’s only running for president to put off getting a real job.

I’m sure Beto feels really good today, though. He’s being applauded by his core constituency: the liberal press. He’s racking up likes and RTs on Twitter. Everybody he wants to impress is telling him that he’s right. His little bubble is so much more comforting than reality.

(Hat tip: @JimmyPrinceton)

P.S. Charles C.W. Cooke: “He almost certainly doesn’t realize it, but Beto O’Rourke is likely to be the worst thing to happen to the gun-control movement in decades — and, if he continues in this mode, he may turn out to be the worst thing to happen to the Democratic party in a long time, too.”