Willie Nelson to headline rally for Beto O’Rourke

Country singer Willie Nelson will headline a rally for Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke later this month as O’Rourke campaigns to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in Texas in the midterm elections this November.
“If we’re going to win and elect Beto to the Senate, we need Texans to vote for him! And what’s more Texan than Willie Nelson? (Nothing!),” O’Rourke’s campaign wrote on an event page for the rally.
The rally is scheduled for Sept. 29 in Austin, Texas.
{mosads}Nelson’s appearance at the rally will mark his first-ever public performance on behalf of a political candidate, Rolling Stone reported. The magazine noted that Nelson pulled O’Rourke onstage at a concert near Austin this summer for renditions of “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
Nelson is originally from Abbott, Texas, a town in the central part of the state.
The rally will come as O’Rourke faces a close race against Cruz. Cruz currently has about a 3 point lead over O’Rourke, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polling in the race.
Nelson has been an outspoken critic of President Trump. Last year, he released a song, “Delete and Fast-Forward,” that he said was inspired by Trump.
In June, Nelson said Christians “should be up in arms” over the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that resulted in families being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.