Theo Godfrey, Contributing Photographer

The Yale College Democrats arranged for ex-presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke to speak with students over Zoom about voter suppression, his past campaigns and his advice for the future of the Democratic Party. 

Yale Dems hosted the online dialogue with O’Rourke on Tuesday, encouraging Yalies to engage with the speaker following a set of pre-written questions from David Acquaah-Mensah ’25, Yale Democrat speakers director. 

“You cannot concede, you cannot give in just because they tell you it’s impossible,” O’Rourke said on why he decided to run for the “privilege of defeating Donald Trump” in the 2020 presidential election. “You have got to try,” he said. 

O’Rourke spoke with students about a number of issues, giving them insights into his campaigns and the issue he said he now sees as being vitally important to American democracy: preventing voter suppression.

The 2020 elections were marred by claims of voter suppression, with Black voters disproportionately impacted by pieces of legislation restricting voting rights, which was outlined in a report by the Brennan Center for Justice in 2021.

“The job right now is to rally those of good faith who want to save this country — we need people to stand up and be counted,” said O’Rourke. 

Working now as the founder of the organization “Powered by People,” O’Rourke said he is aiming to promote voter registration in his home city of El Paso, Texas, to ensure that “the electorate looks like the people it is meant to represent.”  

He said that 750 polling stations in Texas had been closed down, with the majority of them in Black majority districts. 

He added that he thinks it is “imperative” for Democrats to help restore voting rights. 

“Republicans believe in power at whatever cost — regardless of the Constitution or whatever the truth is,” O’Rourke claimed, stating that he “fought against nativist, xenophobic ideas that branded his community a warzone.” 

O’Rourke noted that he was speaking on the three-year anniversary of his decision to suspend his campaign in the 2020 presidential election. Following the questions from Acquaah-Mensah, O’Rourke responded to student questions about his reasoning for dropping out of the race.

O’Rourke said that ultimately his main flaw as a candidate in the race stemmed from his unwillingness to fight other Democratic nominees, and said that he had “huge respect” for his fellow candidates. 

“It’s a really strange thing running for President … I wasn’t in it to make a message or a point, I didn’t want to do anything other than defeat Donald Trump,” O’Rourke explained.

Acquaah-Mensah spoke to the News after his interview with O’Rourke. 

Acquaah-Mensah said that interviewing a public figure whose ideals and vision he believed in wholeheartedly was “surreal.” 

“A lot of research went into inviting Beto and crafting good questions for the event,” Acquaah-Mensah said.

Kate Reynolds ’25, Yale Democrats communications director, said she was grateful to have O’Rourke speak with students. 

Reynolds noted that he stayed over the allotted time for the event to answer final questions from students.  

“Even though it was held on Halloween, we were so pleased to see how many Yale students showed up,” Reynolds told the News. “It was a completely packed room, which is a testament to how much of a political inspiration O’Rourke is to our generation, and how badly young people today desire leaders with the integrity and vision that he possesses.”

The Yale Democrats are set to host Mandela Barnes, former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin on Nov. 14, and Deval Patrick, former Governor of Massachusetts, on Nov. 16.