Beto O'Rourke: Trump talking about crowd sizes in El Paso shows 'how sick this guy is'

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke didn't mince words Sunday when asked about President Trump's recent visit to his community of El Paso, Texas.

"The people of El Paso told me that they didn't want to see the president, and they didn't want him to come here. They understand that he's part of the problem," O'Rourke told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."

Trump traveled to El Paso last week after a gunman killed 22 people at a Walmart the previous weekend. Authorities said the shooter told them that he was targeting Mexicans, and a "manifesto" linked to him decried the "Hispanic invasion of Texas." In his CNN interview O'Rourke noted that Trump had also repeatedly warned of migrant "invasions" and falsely described El Paso as a hub of violent crime.

Tapper also played footage of Trump at the University Medical Center of El Paso, where the president touted the crowd size at a February rally in the city.

“It’s an honor to be with you. Look at this group of people, can you believe this? I was here three months ago, we made a speech. And we had a — what was the name of the arena? That place was packed, right?" Trump said in the footage, which was aired by a local CBS affiliate. "That was some crowd," he added. "We had twice the number outside. And then you had this crazy Beto. Beto had like 400 people in a parking lot."

Tapper asked for O'Rourke's response.

"Not a single patient at University Medical Center or at Del Sol Hospital, two hospitals caring for survivors of that attack, wanted to see the president. That says it all if you ask me," said O'Rourke, who represented El Paso in Congress before unsuccessfully running for the Senate in 2018.

"But for him then to focus on comparing political rallies or on himself, on how much people love him, just shows how sick this guy is and how unfit for this office [he is]," he continued. "He should be consoling people, bringing people together, focusing on their pain and improving their lives. Instead, he's focused on himself."

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