--- title: Beto O'Rourke Says F-Word in Concession Speech description: Beto O'Rourke dropped an f-bomb in his concession speech after losing his race to Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterm elections. canonical: https://time.com/5447290/beto-orourke-f-word-speech/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-07T05:48:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:52.422Z article:section: Politics og:title: Beto O'Rourke Drops the F-Bomb During His Concession Speech og:description: He did not go quietly og:url: https://time.com/5447290/beto-orourke-f-word-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta197623b6b88dc44/69893e74e76ad2e65c6336f2/betoorourkespeech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5472 og:image:height: 3078 og:image:alt: Democratic Candidate Beto O'Rourke Holds Election Night Event In El Paso, Texas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Beto O'Rourke Drops the F-Bomb During His Concession Speech twitter:description: He did not go quietly twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta197623b6b88dc44/69893e74e76ad2e65c6336f2/betoorourkespeech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Beto O'Rourke Dropped the F-Bomb on Live TV During His Concession Speech > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=934ce3ae-793f-4c26-8a4b-00a8d5aff124&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 7, 2018 5:48 AM UTC  Senate candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) and his wife Amy Sanders embrace while addressing supporters during a 'thank you' party on Election Day at Southwest University Park November 06, 2018 in El Paso, Texas. O'Rourke lost to incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Senate candidate Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) and his wife Amy Sanders embrace while addressing supporters during a 'thank you' party on Election Day at Southwest University Park November 06, 2018 in El Paso, Texas. O'Rourke lost to incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 7, 2018 5:48 AM UTC Beto O’Rourke may have lost Texas on Tuesday, but he did not go gently into that good night. After Sen. Ted Cruz narrowly won re-election in one of the 2018 midterm election’s closest races across the country, Democratic nominee O’Rourke gave a [passionate concession speech](http://time.com/5419755/amas-2018-taylor-swift/). Praising his supporters for their efforts, O’Rourke said “all of you showing the country how you do this. I am so f-cking proud of you guys,” to cheers from the crowd. MSNBC apologized for airing the expletive via [local Austin, Texas channel KXAN](https://twitter.com/jessicawluther/status/1060037911817699328) [soon after](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/msnbc-airs-apologizes-f-bomb-beto-orourke-1158901?utm%5Fsource=twitter&utm%5Fsource=t.co&utm%5Fmedium=referral). “Sorry for the F-bomb,” Brian Williams said. “We have no control of what’s in the concession speeches.” His unfiltered move is not without precedent. In fact, in September, Cruz released a [political TV ad](http://O'Rourke's former opponent) featuring O’Rourke using the f-bomb in a speech to suggest that his rallies were inappropriate for children. “So, he’s showing up across Texas, sharing his wit … his wisdom … and his character,” the [ad’s voiceover ](https://www.newsweek.com/cruz-ad-beto-orourke-f-bomb-rally-no-place-kids-1104027)said. “If Beto shows up in your town, maybe keep the kids at home. Beto O’Rourke, he’s showing the f-ck up.” But on Tuesday night, viewers who were surprised by O’Rourke’s foul language took to Twitter to sound off on his use of the F-bomb. Some pointed out he was simply living up to his [punk rock](http://time.com/5381919/beto-orourke-punk-rock/) past. See a sampling of reactions below. **Warning, some bad language:** > [](https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1060037915974291456) > [](https://twitter.com/jessicawluther/status/1060037911817699328) > [](https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1060037396761178112) > [](https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1060037521789329409) > [](https://twitter.com/evanasmith/status/1060037317988098048) > [](https://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1060037283347349506) > [](https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1060037915974291456) > [](https://twitter.com/jatsive%5Fh/status/1060042641423982592) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5447290/beto-orourke-f-word-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5447290/beto-orourke-f-word-speech/"},"headline":"Beto O'Rourke Dropped the F-Bomb on Live TV During His Concession Speech","datePublished":"2018-11-07T05:48:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:52.422Z","description":"Beto O'Rourke dropped an f-bomb in his concession speech after losing his race to Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterm elections.","url":"https://time.com/5447290/beto-orourke-f-word-speech/","keywords":["2018 Elections","Newsfeed","Texas","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta197623b6b88dc44/69893e74e76ad2e65c6336f2/betoorourkespeech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta197623b6b88dc44/69893e74e76ad2e65c6336f2/betoorourkespeech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic Candidate Beto O'Rourke Holds Election Night Event In El Paso, Texas","caption":"Democratic Candidate Beto O'Rourke Holds Election Night Event In El Paso, Texas","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2018-elections/","name":"2018 Elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5447290/beto-orourke-f-word-speech/","name":"Beto O'Rourke Dropped the F-Bomb on Live TV During His Concession Speech"}}]}] ```