Robert Francis (alias Beto) O'Rourke allowed himself to be filmed confessing to his Senate campaign staff that he had sometimes been a "giant a‑‑‑‑‑‑" during his failed campaign to defeat Ted Cruz.  Henry Rodgers reports in the Daily Caller:

In "Running with Beto," a documentary premiering Tuesday on HBO, O'Rourke gathered with a group of campaign staffers to thank them before giving his concession speech after losing to Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterm election.

"I just feel very, very lucky, and I love you guys more than you'll ever know," O'Rourke said in the video obtained by The Daily Beast.  "I know I was a giant a‑‑‑‑‑‑ to be around sometimes, and you all never allowed my shortcomings to get in the way of running the best campaign this state has ever seen."

Cynthia Cano, his road manager, can be seen giving a slight nod after he calls himself a "giant a‑‑‑‑‑‑," the Beast reported.

This is an example of reverse virtue-signaling, in which an arrogant person flamboyantly pretends to be humble in order to gain credit as an enlightened, self-critical man of the people.  And doing so in front of cameras filming a documentary about him.  It's all a sham, of course, as phony as the Hispanic nickname he created for himself as a good career move for a politician from 83% Hispanic El Paso.

A man who thinks that he is so fascinating that the world wants to see his dental office visits is anything but humble.  What is genuine about the "confession" and the televised dental visit is exhibitionism, a characteristic of a person who thinks that he is so wonderful that the world wants to see every aspect of his life.

HBO is leaking the attention-getting phrase to a friendly outlet like the Daily Beast in order to salvage some viewer interest in what has turned out to be a failed presidential bid, now that he is languishing in sixth place in the Democrats' field with an average of 3.8% support.  Pete Buttigieg, who is younger, smarter, and more articulate, and has an identity politics advantage as a homosexual, has stolen his space as the "dynamic" entrant.  The magic is gone for O'Rourke, and I don't think he can recover.  Plus, the descriptor he provided for himself will stick, because it seems to capture an important element of the man.