Beto O’Rourke Dismisses Leprechaun Mugshot Attack as Republican ‘Pettiness’

Beto O’Rourke dismissed a Republican National Committee social media post featuring his mugshot taken when he was arrested for drunk driving.

“I think people want us focused on the big picture. They want us to be defined not by this pettiness or the personal attacks that we see in ones like the ad that you just described,” the 2020 presidential candidate said when asked about the image while campaigning in Milwaukee on Sunday.

The RNC tweeted out O’Rourke’s mugshot from an arrest in 1998, editing the photo to place a green leprechaun hat on it.

“On this St. Paddy’s Day, a special message from noted Irishman Robert Francis O’Rourke,” they wrote on Twitter, urging followers to “Please Drink Responsibly.”

On this St. Paddy's Day, a special message from noted Irishman Robert Francis O'Rourke. pic.twitter.com/JRjMEXhZRY

— GOP (@GOP) March 17, 2019

O’Rourke told reporters his campaign would not focus on negative and personal attacks, like the one leveled at him by the GOP.

“We cannot meet this challenge with more partisanship, more pettiness, more meanness, more personal and partisan attacks,” he said. “We have to meet this moment by coming together.”