Who is Don McLaughlin, Uvalde Mayor who yelled at Beto O’Rourke?

Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin slammed Texas Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke for disrupting the elementary school shooting press conference on Wednesday. 

O’Rourke gatecrashed the press conference and yelled out after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blamed mental health for Tuesday’s Robb Elementary school shooting that killed 19 kids and two teachers.

He approached the stage asking, ‘What are we doing?’ 

“You are doing nothing. You said this was not predictable; this was totally predictable, and you choose not to do anything,” he added.

Don McLaughlin then got up from his seat, yelling, “Sir, you are out of line.”

“I can’t believe you’re a sick s-n of a b—h who would come to a deal like this to make a political issue,” he added. 

Sen. Ted Cruz then told O’Rourke to “sit down” and not “play this stunt.”

“This is on you until you choose to do something different! This will continue to happen. Somebody needs to stand up for the children of this state or they will continue to be killed just as they were in Uvalde yesterday,” O’Rourke continued before being marched out. 

Also Read: Texas school shooting: Here is what world leaders had to say

Who is Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin?

Don McLaughlin was elected to his first two-year term in 2014. He then won re-election in 2016, and 2018. He defeated former Uvalde mayor George Garza in 2020 by 915 votes.

“I’m ecstatic, I’m pleased that people still have trust. I appreciate their confidence, and I hope going forward that I’ll do right by them and get the things done that we need to get done,” he told Uvalde Leader News after winning the election in 2020.

Also Read: Big brain moment: Ted Cruz, Paxton want to arm teachers to stop school shootings

After Tuesday’s shooting, he told Good Morning America that the shooting was a mental health issue.

The need for mental health resources is something “we’ve been screaming about for a long time in our communities,” he added. 

“The city donated land. We’ve been trying to get this mental health hospital built here. When we have kids that are suicidal or kids that have thoughts like this or even adults, we have no place to take them.”