(Headline USA) Texas Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke said Sunday that he had cleared his campaign schedule after receiving treatment at a San Antonio hospital for an unspecified bacterial infection.
In a statement tweeted Sunday by his campaign, O’Rourke said he sought treatment at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio after feeling ill Friday.
After feeling ill on Friday, I went to Methodist Hospital in San Antonio where I was diagnosed with a bacterial infection.
The extraordinary team there — from custodians to nurses and doctors — gave me excellent care and attention, including IV antibiotics and rest.
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 28, 2022
Intravenous antibiotic infusions improved his symptoms, O’Rourke said.
“While my symptoms have improved, I will be resting at home in El Paso in accordance with the doctors’ recommendations,” he said.
“I am sorry to have had to postpone events because of this, but [I] promise to be back on the road as soon as I am able.”
O’Rourke continues to trail Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in opinion polls before the Nov. 8 general elections.
Once considered a Democratic wunderkind, the former congressman has failed to gain traction in both a 2018 race against Sen. Ted Cruz and a 2020 run in the Democratic presidential primary, during which his erratic behavior and bizarre personal history became significant issues.
Warning signs of another implosion have loomed as O’Rourke tries to make the mass school shooting in Uvalde one of his signature campaign issues.
In the days immediately after the tragedy, he hijacked a press conference that Abbott was conducting, turning the somber occasion into a political clown show before being removed.
More recently he reacted to a heckler during a townhall with an emotional meltdown that was caught on video and went viral.
“It may be funny to you motherf***er but it’s not funny to me,” he said after someone in the audience laughed during his discussion of Uvalde.
Ya gotta see and share this.
Beto O'Rourke: "It may be funny to you motherfucker but it's not funny to me"
This man is a fighter and he will fight for all Texans.pic.twitter.com/Zeo7lenD3x
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) August 11, 2022
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
