TEXAS -- As cases of COVID-19 and resultant hospitalizations continue to climb in Texas, former congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke is placing the blame squarely on Gov. Greg Abbott.

What You Need To Know


  • Beto O'Rourke criticizes Gov. Greg Abbott's handling of coronavirus pandemic

  • Says governor reopened economy too soon, allowing virus to spread

  • Gov. Abbott has rolled back some reopening measures

  • Texas surpassed 200,000 cases of virus on Monday 

In a tweet early Tuesday morning, O’Rourke wrote:

“Abbott opens Texas too soon, issues mask order too late, denies local leaders authority to contain the virus — causing uncontrolled covid spread, many hospitalized & soon dead because of his negligence — and then blames local officials? Pathetic. Resign.”

Gov. Abbott has taken steps backwards, again closing bars and tubing businesses, as well as limiting restaurant capacity to 50 percent. He additionally has given local leaders the power to enforce the wearing of facial coverings. Still, several Texas mayors claim the efforts aren’t enough and have asked the governor for more autonomy in dealing with the pandemic.

RELATED: Austin, San Antonio Mayors ask Abbott for More Authority as COVID-19 Cases Rise

"We’ve reached the point where I think we now see the effects of decisions that were made, in hindsight, without data to support them and so we’d certainly like to slow down this reopening,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg told Capital Tonight’s Karina Kling. “We definitely want to press on the ability to maintain restrictions, and to also enhance our ability to control this and focus on some of these localized hotspots are out there."

Texas on Monday reported 200,577 cases of the novel coronavirus, surpassing 200,000 for the first time. It additionally reported 8,698 hospitalizations related to the virus, 5,318 new cases and 18 new deaths.