Politics

Ed Henry Explains Why Trump Should Be ‘Licking His Chops’ At The Chance To Run Against O’Rourke

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Fox News correspondent Ed Henry said on “Fox & Friends” Thursday that President Donald Trump should be chomping at the bit to run against Beto O’Rourke in 2020.

“I have to tell that you that President Trump has to be sort of licking his chops at the idea of facing someone like this who has no accomplishments in the House, runs for the Senate. His big ticket is I lost. I came close to beating [Texas GOP Sen.] Ted Cruz,” Henry said.

O’Rourke, a Democrat, released a video early Thursday morning announcing his intentions to seek the White House in 2020. He appeared beside his wife and said America faces a “defining moment of truth.”

“Yeah, he raised a lot of money. There’s a lot of excitement,” Henry said. “Again, I don’t want to minimize that. But what I would say is, if you want to run against President Trump who won on the idea of standing up for the forgotten man and forgotten woman, do you really want to launch your campaign on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine?”

Henry warned the GOP about turning its back on O’Rourke, however, and claimed he could end up becoming the next Barack Obama.

“He has as much a chance of … 20 or 30 other people who have gotten in. This idea that because he came close in Texas, that Texas is in play in a presidential election, seems like a stretch,” he said earlier in the interview. “But, where I hesitate is, look, this guy has an it factor that Republicans shouldn’t sleep on. He met with [former President] Barack Obama before jumping in. Democrats want to fall in love again. They want to find somebody who is going to be their great hope.”

Henry also said O’Rourke’s efforts to run a positive campaign may end up backfiring and could cost him the election.

He said:

In the video he says I’m going to run a relentlessly positive campaign. Why is he doing that? He wants this election, Beto O’Rourke, to be a reaction to President Trump. And the idea that, look, President Trump’s on the attack. He’s on the attack. I’m going to be relentlessly positive. Problem is we know from House campaigns, Senate campaigns and presidential races negative politics tends to work. And so can a relentlessly positive candidate win? This president in 2016, first in the Republican primary, defined all of his opponents to the point that he tore them apart. So can Beto survive?

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