Beto Is Running for President: 'Man, I'm Just Born to Be in It'

Beto O'Rourke, who said weeks ago that he had made a decision on running for president in 2020, has now decided to share that decision with the world. The Democrat confirmed in a text message to El Paso station KTSM that he plans to enter the race, saying his hometown is "a big part of why I’m running. This city is the best example of this country at its best." The 46-year-old former congressman, who narrowly lost his US Senate race against Ted Cruz in Texas last year, is expected to make a formal announcement Thursday, the Guardian reports.

In a Vanity Fair interview released Wednesday, O'Rourke said the most important thing he heard during the 2016 campaign was from Bernie Sanders. "He said it’s not enough to remind America how bad Donald Trump is, it’s just not going to do it," O’Rourke said. "You’ve got to give people something to be for, it cannot be who we are against." He told the magazine: "You can probably tell that I want to run. I do. I think I'd be good at it." He added: “Man, I'm just born to be in it, and want to do everything I humanly can for this country at this moment." (More Beto O'Rourke stories.)