Democratic Senate challenger Beto O'Rourke opted out of an agreed-upon debate with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, this week, so the Texas Republican party took matters into in its own hands.
The Texas GOP tweeted out a mugshot of O'Rourke from a decades-old DWI arrest and other mocking tweets, offering faux reasons why the upstart decided to skip what was to be the first of five debates Friday in Dallas.
"There's always the chance that Robert 'Beto' O'Rourke won't debate Senator Cruz because he's got into a hazy situation," read the tweet, with the mugshot attached.
That came on the heels of a tweet of O'Rourke having to "skate on the debate" and another photo from his days in a band: "Sorry, can't debate. We have a gig."
For O'Rourke's part, he said Monday this week's debate "is not going to happen" because Cruz's campaign has "attempted to dictate" the details of the debate, The Texas Tribune reported.
"We're working through those differences, and we're trying to introduce more of a collaborative style to the negotiations than he may be used to," the Tribune quoted O'Rourke. "And so we're confident that out of that, we're going to come to something good."
O'Rourke has gained ground on Cruz in recent weeks, buoyed by a prolific fundraising campaign. Cruz, however, still maintains a 5.5-point lead, according to RealClearPolitics' composite average.
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