Trump Mocks Democratic Challenger Beto O’Rourke’s ‘Hand Movement’

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump mocked his latest Democratic challenger, former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas, and said he’d take on whoever runs against him in 2020.

“He has a lot of hand movement -- I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump said Thursday at the White House, referring to O’Rourke. “Is he crazy or is that just the way he acts?”

Trump added: “I’ve actually never seen anything quite like it. Study it I’m sure you will agree."

Trump said he’ll take on any challenger, and that he’ll be hard to beat with his record on the economy. “I think it is going to be very tough to beat," Trump said.

O’Rourke, who announced he’s running for president on Thursday, narrowly lost the Texas Senate contest to Republican Ted Cruz in 2018 but managed to build a nationwide following with his unconventional and optimistic style combined with a populist message that brought in almost $80 million in mostly small donations.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shannon Pettypiece in Washington at spettypiece@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Joe Sobczyk

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