--- 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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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. 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"}}]}] ```