Beto O 'Rourke: Biden "absolutely wrong" on the support of Hyde's amendment

Watch the full interview of Elaine Quijano with Beto O 'Rourke in the top reader.

Candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential election were quick to rally to Joe Biden's support for the Hyde amendment, which outlaws federal funding for abortions in most cases, although they have been reluctant to call it by name. But in an exclusive interview with Elaine Quijano of the CBSN Wednesday, the former representative. Beto O 'Rourke went further than his fellow competitors and stated that Biden's position on abortion was "totally false".

"I hope Joe Biden will rethink his stance on this issue," said O & # Rourke. "Maybe he's not all the facts.Maybe he does not understand who the Hyde amendment hurts the most … low-income communities, communities of color, I would ask him to rethink his position on this. "

O & # Rourke took care not to criticize the other Democratic candidates during the election campaign and made civility a cornerstone of his message. But Wednesday's news that the former vice president still supported the Hyde amendment, that O & Rourke and other Democrats of 2020 want to repeal, has opened another important gap between Biden and the rest of the group.

Although Biden supports the right to abortion, he is also a convinced Catholic who invokes his faith during the election campaign. In a recent campaign, an ACLU volunteer asked if he pledged to support the repeal of the Hyde amendment and agreed. Still, his campaign said that he had misunderstood the issue and that he was still supporting the amendment that prohibits federal funding of abortions, except in the case of incest, rape or sexual abuse. the life of the mother. Funds are usually distributed through Medicaid. O 'Rourke added that several contenders to 2020 were of the opinion that the amendment would have a disproportionate impact on low-income women and women of color, and called for a repeal.

O 'Rourke's response comes as the former Texas congressman is restarting his presidential campaign after a gloomy start. Part of this effort includes the publication of policy proposals, ranging from immigration reform to the fight against climate change. On Wednesday, Mr. O. Rourke introduced a voting rights bill that aimed to increase the number of registrations by 50 million people, the goal being to reduce the turnout to 65%.

The plan also provides for term limits for certain federal offices, including an 18-year limit for Supreme Court justices. Several 2020 candidates called for reform of the High Court in response to recent federal and local decisions and vacancies that have changed the ideological makeup of the judiciary.

Mr. O. Rourke however disapproved of some proposals put forward by other candidates aimed at increasing the number of seats in the court, after stating that he could consider it earlier this year. "I do not know if that's the right way," he told CBSN. "This reinforces or encapsulates the partisanship we are currently witnessing."

OW Rourke's plan would make polling day a national holiday and set up an automatic voter registration on the same day, including pre-registration for 15- and 16-year-olds.

O & # Rourke would also ask Congress to pass legislation allowing unidentified people to vote. It also proposes a constitutional amendment to impose a 12-year term in the House and Senate to inspire more people to run for office.

The former congressman also told CBSN that he would support the Democratic challenger of his former colleague in the House, Republican Will Hurd, in the 23rd congressional district of Texas. O & # 39; Rourke was criticized in 2018 for not supporting Gina Ortiz Jones, who lost less than a thousand votes. O & # 39; Rourke and Hurd are friendly, and the two have attracted the country's attention in 2017 to live streaming their drive together from Texas to Washington when the weather canceled their flights.

"I will most likely support the candidate in this competition, and I am a big fan of Gina," said O & # Rourke at CBSN. "I do not want to put my thumb on the scale … but if she is the candidate, I will support her."

O 'Rourke, a native of the border town of El Paso, has also made immigration a central part of his campaign. He told CBSN that the tariffs proposed by President Trump on Mexico "deal with the most stupid idea, economically, the president has come up with".

He also responded to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, according to which 60% of Texas Democrats wanted him to relinquish his run for president to run for Senate against Republican President John Cornyn. "I think they want to see Texas represented in the US Senate by someone who represents our values," he told CBSN. "I am a known quantity … when they have the chance to meet some of these contenders, like MJ Hager, they will be very happy."