Beto pushes back on Linklater anti-Cruz ad: 'I'm not down with super PACs'



>>> See where Cruz and O'Rourke stand on the biggest issues facing Texans. less Rep. Beto O'Rourke said he's "not down with super PACs" in regards to a Richard Linklater-directed political attack ad against Sen. Ted Cruz.

>>> See where Cruz and O'Rourke stand on the biggest ... more Rep. Beto O'Rourke said he's "not down with super PACs" in regards to a Richard Linklater-directed political attack ad against Sen. Ted Cruz. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Beto pushes back on Linklater anti-Cruz ad: 'I'm not down with super PACs' 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Rep. Beto O'Rourke is distancing himself from a viral political attack ad directed by Richard Linklater.

In an interview with MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Tuesday, O'Rourke clarified that the ad was not approved by his campaign.

"Yeah, that's not our stuff," O'Rourke told Hayes. "I'm not down with super PACs."

"We're running this one with people, no PACs no special interests, no outside interests, going to every one of the 254 counties of Texas," he said.

Judging from the interview, there was no indication that O'Rourke welcomed the ad, which lambasted Sen. Ted Cruz for working with President Donald Trump despite being insulted by him on the campaign trail.

ANALYSIS: Beto O'Rourke's uphill battle

"I mean, come on, if somebody called my wife a dog and said my daddy was in on the Kennedy assassination, I wouldn't be kissing their ass," an actor in the ad said.

The ad was directed by Richard Linklater, the filmmaker behind "Boyhood" and "Dazed and Confused."

It was circulated through social media and funded by the Fire Ted Cruz PAC. The Dallas-based PAC has so far raised $277,898 in contributions, per the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.

With less than a month until election day, Cruz leads O'Rourke by 6 percentage points according to several polls averaged by RealClearPolitics.

Fernando Ramirez covers Texas news and politics. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. | Fernando.ramirez@chron.com | @fernramirez93



