HOUSTON (TND) — Less than a week into Beto O’Rourke’s gubernatorial campaign in Texas, a protestor confronted O’Rourke over his repeated failures to win elected office and his gun control policies.

“On behalf of the ranchers, the oil and gas and farmers I’m in your grill telling you don’t come back,” a Hispanic man, identifying himself as a Texan named Robert, could be heard on video telling O’Rourke. “We don’t want you here.”

“You ain’t taking my guns either,” the man can be heard saying to O’Rourke. “Nobody wants you here. No means no. Three times – you lost twice. No means no!”

O’Rourke notoriously told Americans he would “take your AR-15” and “your AK-47” during a Democratic presidential debate in 2019, a stance he defended during a CNN interview over the weekend.

Upon being escorted to the perimeter of the event, the protester named Robert could be seen holding up a flag with an image of a joint on it that read, “COME AND TAKE IT.”

“Hey Beto,” said Robert as he held up the flag, “come and take it! Come and take it. It ain’t gonna happen, you done lost twice.”

O’Rourke’s supporters began blowing whistles to drown out the counter protesting. A man wearing a shirt with O’Rourke’s image and name on it engaged the protesters in his own verbal skirmish. At that point, Robert the protester could be heard shouting “Kyle Rittenhouse, Kyle Rittenhouse baby, Kyle Rittenhouse!”

O’Rourke appears to be trying to carve out his own unique path for the upcoming gubernatorial race in Texas. After announcing he would seek to unseat Gov. Abbott, O’Rourke dodged questions on CNN about whether he would want Democratic President Joe Biden to campaign with him.

“This campaign in Texas is not going to be about Joe Biden, it’s not going to be about Donald Trump, it’s not going to be about anyone from outside of our state,” O’Rourke said on CNN’s “State of The Union” Sunday when asked about campaigning with Biden. “This is going to be about the people of Texas, and what the people of Texas want.”

O’Rouke’s campaign comes on the heels of fellow Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s loss in Virginia’s gubernatorial race. During McAuliffe’s campaign, he expressed concern about President Biden’s unpopularity in Virginia, but ultimately accepted Biden’s help on the campaign trail.

Written by ALEC SCHEMMEL