O’Rourke on calling Cruz ‘Lyin’ Ted’: ‘That wasn’t the best phrase for me to use’

Senate candidate Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) on Sunday backed down after calling his Republican opponent Sen. Ted Cruz “Lyin’ Ted” during a debate last week, saying he doesn’t think that was “the best phrase for me to use.” 

O’Rourke during the debate said President Trump’s 2016 nickname for Cruz “stuck” because it’s “true.” 

{mosads}”Sen. Cruz isn’t going to be honest,” O’Rourke said during the CNN town hall. “He’s dishonest. That’s why [Trump’s] nickname [‘Lyin’ Ted’] stuck — because it’s true.”

The Texas representative in recent days has expressed some regrets over the name-calling, saying he “took a step too far” in the “heat of the moment.” 

“That wasn’t the best phrase for me to use, but, you know, I’m going to do my best to stay focused on the future,” O’Rourke said during a pre-recorded interview with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. 

O’Rourke during the interview also declined to respond to Trump’s attacks on his character, saying he does not want to contribute to “bitterness, name-calling [and] partisanship.” 

Trump last week called O’Rourke a “flake” and a “lightweight.”

“I don’t know that it makes any sense to respond,” O’Rourke told ABC News’s Paula Faris during the interview.

“The bitterness, name-calling, partisanship … you can add more to it or you can stay focused on the future and why you did this in the first place,” he said. 

O’Rourke’s campaign has gained national attention, with individual donations pouring in from Democrats all over the country, and the candidate raised an eye-popping $38 million in the last quarter. 

Recent polls have Cruz leading O’Rourke by between 5 and 9 points. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report in September changed the race from “lean Republican” to “toss-up.”