After embracing President Donald Trump‘s infamous name-calling tactic last Tuesday, Beto O’Rourke is now re-thinking the decision, admitting he got caught up in a tense debate.

In a Thursday town hall discussion on CNN, the Senate hopeful explained that he called his challenger, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), “lyin’ Ted” after “he began [the debate] with yet another lie.”

That’s when O’Rourke chose to respond with the commander in chief’s signature jab at Cruz.

“I said, ‘Look, he’s dishonest,'” O’Rourke explained. “It’s one of the reasons that he got tagged with this nickname and that nickname resonates because it’s true.”

The incident, though, didn’t sit well with the Democratic challenger, who added that “it’s not something that I feel totally comfortable with, and perhaps in the heat of the moment, I took a step too far.”

O’Rourke stopped just short of stating he regretted the remark, but said this: “I don’t know that that’s the way that I want to be talking in this campaign.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

[Image via screengrab]

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