Beto O’Rourke, Democrats’ big hope to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, shocked many in his home state recently when he professed support for National Football League players to take a knee during the National Anthem.

Now, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #4006 Commander Carl Dry alleges the party’s rising star wants to do way with the American flag altogether, or at least at his campaign events, according to The Examiner.

At a town hall meeting at the VFW in late August, Dry contends O’Rourke’s people demanded veterans remove the American flag from the walls, but they refused to comply.

Dry made it clear the VFW does not endorse O’Rourke’s campaign, which was required to abide by the same rental agreement as any other group that leases the facility.

“I do not normally attend rental events, but I attended Saturday to make sure things ran smoothly,” Dry said, adding that the campaign made two specific requests. “They wanted to open the doors (to  the Flight Deck Lounge) and I couldn’t allow that and they wanted to take the flags down.

“I did not only say no, I said hell no, you don’t take the flags off the wall,” he said. “I can’t believe any American would ask us to do that and I don’t know why he wanted them down or what he was going to put up instead.”

Local event organizer Ricke Weinkauf said a total of 450 people signed in for the event, though he believes attendance was actually over the building’s 500-person capacity.

“It was nice to see a cross section of people being interested in what is going on, it has been my experience in Navasota that people don’t always want to participate,” he said, adding that the event went well over its time.

And while O’Rourke is a smooth-talker, many folks like Grimes County resident Dianna Westmoreland weren’t buying his socialist agenda.

“He philosophies are completely different than mine, because I am very conservative. I am glad I went to see him, he speaks well but I don’t agree with his words. He is very charismatic, a very good speaker, reminds me of Obama in many ways – he has a warm and fuzzy feeling about him,” Westmorleand said. “But I am opposed to his ideas, he danced around socialism because he is a socialist. He wants illegals to have free healthcare and that is socialism to me.”

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O’Rourke, a U.S. representative from El Paso, is campaigning to unseat Republican senator and former presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who was first elected in 2013.

Cruz has repeatedly pointed out O’Rourke’s support for flag burning and other protests involving the flag and National Anthem, most recently in a campaign video highlighting O’Rourke’s comments that “there is something inherently American” about disrespecting the flag.

“Congressman O’Rourke not only called burning the U.S. flag ‘inherently American’ but also said he was ‘grateful’ for those willing to commit such an act,” Cruz spokesperson Catherine Frazier said. “His position is an appalling display of disregard to those who have put their lives on the line to preserve the very freedoms the American flag represents. Texans certainly do not share such views which have no place in our Lone Star State.”