Midterm elections: Beto O'Rourke says he would definitely vote to impeach Donald Trump at Texas town hall

Beto O’Rourke has said that would definitely vote to impeach Donald Trump during a town hall event in Texas.

Citing the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian election meddling into the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with Trump campaign officials, the Democrat Senate candidate said there is “enough there” for impeachment proceedings.

Mr Trump has denied allegations of any collusion and has called the investigation a witch hunt.

Mr O’Rourke was asked by CNN’s Dana Bash whether he had changed his changed his mind after saying he would vote to impeach Mr Trump this summer, replying: “I haven’t.”

“I would liken impeachment to an indictment. There is enough there to proceed to a trial,” he said.

“I would not prejudge the outcome of that trial. All I am saying is, there’s enough there, “ Mr O’Rourke said. ”I know that this is not politically easy or convenient to talk about, but 242 years into this experiment … nothing guarantees us a 243rd or a 244th.”

Mr O’Rourke has avoided the topic recently, with Republican Ted Cruz hitting out at him during a debate on Tuesday night – saying Mr O’Rourke as too liberal for Texas.

During the town hall, Mr O’Rourke said he regretted calling Mr Cruz by a nickname formerly used by Mr Trump – “lyin’ Ted”.

“I don’t know that that’s the way that I want to be talking in this campaign,” Mr O’Rourke said.

Texans on both sides of the political aisle have become increasingly motivated to vote in November thanks to a slate of local issues and national controversies; from health care access — Texas is the most uninsured state in the country — to Mr Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, which led to the separation of migrant families at the US-Mexico border.

For Democrats across the reliably red state, support for progressive candidates has been steadily building throughout 2018. Democratic voter registration has doubled; the party’s senatorial candidate, Mr O’Rourke, has broken fundraising records and put Mr Cruz on the defensive during their final debate Tuesday night in San Antonio.

However, the statewide Republican base has become electrified following Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation battle. The fervour appears to be pushing back against a possible blue wave threatening the reliably red US senate seat: whereas Mr O’Rourke and Mr Cruz were in a statistical tie earlier this summer, Mr Cruz is up by seven points in the latest polls