O’Rourke defends comparing Trump speech to Nazi rally, says El Paso could be modern-day Ellis Island

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, in a heated discussion on ABC’s The View on Tuesday, doubled down on his comments to ABC News describing President Trump’s recent North Carolina rally “an impromptu Nuremberg” gathering.

“When he’s asking four women of color to go back to their own country, and then connecting that with everything else that he’s doing, calling the press the enemy of the people, there is only one path that will take us down,” O’Rourke said.

He disagreed with show co-host Meghan McCain, who said his comments — which referenced the types of xenophobic rallies that took place during the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany — may turn off moderate voters.

“We all have to take accountability for our actions,” O’Rourke said, adding later “The direction of this country has never been so imperiled or undermined as it is now. This is our defining moment of truth.”

On Monday, during an interview with ABC News, the former Texas congressman had condemned everything from the president’s immigration policies to his comments against four congresswomen of color, also known as “the Squad.”

“Yes, President Trump is a racist,” 2020 candidate Beto O’Rourke tells ABC News’ @BrianaKStewart on @ABCNewsLive. “What we saw in North Carolina last week was almost an impromptu Nuremberg rally … it’s very clear the path that he is taking us on” https://t.co/YqQFDBlZbr pic.twitter.com/WpSAAyAHup

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 22, 2019

“What we saw in North Carolina last week was almost an impromptu Nuremberg rally, inciting hatred and ultimately, implicit violence against people of color, people. Based on their religion and based on their difference from the majority. And it is in keeping with the president who describes Mexican immigrants as rapists and criminals, who describes asylum seekers as animals and an infestation. The man who calls Klansman very fine people. It very clear the path he is taking us on,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke and his wife Amy appeared in their first national television interview at The View Tuesday, discussing immigration, life in El Paso, and the campaign trail ahead.

His wife has had a growing presence on the campaign trail, introducing herself to voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and most recently, New York.

The couple trekked to Ellis Island — which in its day processed more than 12 million immigrants — and as a result, over 100 million Americans: more than 30% of the population.

The trip was a chance for O’Rourke to trace his and the country’s roots to the border battle in his hometown in Texas.

“Where I live in El Paso, Texas, could be the Ellis Island of today. Perhaps millions of people who become Americans coming from Mexico and El Salvador and the Western hemisphere first set foot in the United States in my hometown. So, though we’re about 2,000 miles apart, El Paso and New York, we’re connected in that common story of America,” O’Rourke said.

The trip also comes on the heels of O’Rourke’s continued stagnation in the polls and in fundraising, as he attempts to “reboot” a campaign that started hot, but in recent months has slid.

In the last two months, the former Texas congressman has bolstered his outreach, having more nuanced discussions on economic inequality, recently revealing that both he and his wife are descended from slave owners.

During his appearance on The View on Tuesday, he discussed how that revelation made American racial disparities more personal for him.

“Learning that our ancestors owned other people and helped to create a system that some people in this country have benefited from and others have been held down by it and that persists today– yeah, it made it very personal for us.” O’Rourke said. “But if anything it renewed the urgency that we feel around making sure that there is repair in this country.”