Moments after former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke — who promised in a September debate to take away legally purchased assault rifles if elected — endorsed Joe Biden’s White House run, the former vice president promised to name the Texan as his point man on gun control.
“I want to make something clear, I’m going to guarantee you this is not the last you’ve seen of him,” Biden said Monday evening during a campaign rally in Dallas. “You’re going to take care of the gun problem with me. You’re going to be the one who leads this effort.”
“I’m counting on you. I’m counting on you,” Biden continued. “We need you badly, the state needs you, the country needs you. You’re the best.”
O’Rourke, a former congressman from El Paso, dropped out of the race last November.
He notably railed against automatic weapons during a presidential debate in September and reiterated his backing of a mandatory gun buyback program, saying such weapons were “designed to kill on the battlefield.”
“Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” O’Rourke said. “We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.”
The debate came just weeks after two high-profile mass shootings, including one in O’Rourke’s hometown of El Paso in which 22 people died.
Biden also got the endorsements of Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at the rally.
Buttigieg and Klobuchar pulled out of the race Sunday and Monday, respectively.