Beto O'Rourke turns to virtual campaigning due to a bacterial infection

By Ayana Archie

Published August 29, 2022 at 12:08 AM EDT

Texas Democrat and gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke speaks during a campaign event in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. O'Rourke said Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, that he had cleared his campaign schedule after receiving treatment at a San Antonio hospital for an unspecified bacterial infection.

Updated August 29, 2022 at 4:52 PM ET

Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke said Sunday he is taking a break from the campaign trail after contracting a bacterial infection and will hold two virtual campaign events Monday.

O'Rourke said he began feeling sick on Friday and was diagnosed with the infection at the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, where he received antibiotics.

"While my symptoms have improved, I will be resting at home in El Paso in accordance with the doctors' recommendations," he tweeted Sunday.

O'Rourke, who is running against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in the November election, said he will have to postpone some events due to his illness, but will be back on the campaign trail as soon as possible.

O'Rourke recently made headlines while on the campaign trail in North Texas when he swore at a heckler during a campaign rally. He was speaking to a crowd in Mineral Wells, Texas, about the mass shooting in Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, when a member in the audience began to laugh, NPR member station Houston Public Media reported.

O'Rourke quickly spun around and pointed at the heckler and said, "It may be funny to you, motherf*****, but it's not funny to me, OK."

The crowd immediately began cheering in support of O'Rourke's snappy interjection.