2020 presidential contender Julián Castro said he was happy he got some exposure from the first Democratic primary debates, saying it was hard when he was polling at 1%.

“I would lie if I said it hadn’t been hard when polls had me at 1%. What in the world is going on here?” Castro told Kasie Hunt on Kasie DC in an interview recorded after the debates in Miami.

“The number one thing people ask me out there on the campaign trail when it comes to why should I vote for you, how are you going to beat Donald Trump?” Castro said. “What they saw in that debate is that I could hold my own. And I could stand up to Donald Trump.”

Hunt also asked Castro about a tense exchange with Beto O’Rourke over border policy during the debate.

“You and Beto O’Rourke got into an extensive back and forth. You seemed to be trying to one-up him on immigration policy,” Hunt said.

Castro said the exchange was a policy issue, as Castro is pushing to repeal the law that criminalizes crossing the border while O’Rourke has not.

“But for some reason Beto has said that he doesn’t want to do that, that he would still criminalize a lot of these people who are coming over,” Castro said.

Watch above, via MSNBC

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