GOP alarm as Trump backs Ken Paxton in tight Texas race

politicsSep 3, 2026172,502

Donald Trump publicly backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the Senate, but Republican strategist Karl Rove warned on Fox News that Paxton is "flailing" against Democrat James Talarico and that "time is running out" to salvage the race. Rove told Brian Kilmeade that Paxton won the GOP primary only because of Trump’s endorsement and that Paxton trails badly in fundraising and advertising, with Kilmeade citing numbers of about $21 million for Talarico versus roughly one to two million for Paxton. Rove criticized Paxton’s recent schedule, noting appearances in Washington and overseas travel to Iceland and London around the Fourth of July, and urged Trump’s super PAC MAGA Inc. to inject large sums into Paxton’s campaign. Rove pointed to Paxton’s long record of scandals, including alleged voter fraud, a controversial plea deal from his office, and reports about his personal life, and warned that Talarico will run the message that Paxton is "the most corrupt politician in Texas history." Senate leaders including John Thune have echoed calls for more MAGA Inc. support, while Sen. John Cornyn declined to actively help Paxton and had criticized Paxton’s fundraising and campaign case in comments to The Texas Tribune. Rove’s plea frames the immediate consequence: without a major financial rescue from Trump-aligned donors, he predicted Talarico could carry that corruption messaging to victory.

Michelle

@michelleroy78.bsky.social

Ted Cruz tells Texans to "Stop your bitching" and vote for Ken Paxton

15035h ago

Valerie 🇺🇸🇮🇹🇺🇦127

God I hate that thing.

Robin Michaels112

Stop yer bitchin"???? I think they have every right to bitch about one of the most unethical bastards in Tesxas

be-zen.bsky.social67

I think Ted should campaign for every Republican running for office.

dabxdee.bsky.social49

It's okay folks, Elon will swoop in with a bag of money and a few clicks of the computer keyboard and win Ken the election... I hope I'm wrong

The Last Fish Bender41

It’s always fascinating to me, that this talk works on 30% of Americans. The same people that say they don’t want people to tell them what to do. What trauma made them this way?

Franken-Pattern35

When the "gop" impeached Paxton, that sounds a lot like b1tch1ng to me. Paxton, like all "republicans" is a career criminal.

Quoting this

Aislinn4

Republicans: Do what you’re told, peasants

Penguin2026™️2

@chickgonebad.bsky.social @vespavixen.bsky.social @cmr2.bsky.social This is what the twatpublicunt party has become - oh just vote for the person with R next to their name, so what if they’re a crook or a child rapist, that’s not important.

Mrs. Betty Bowers

@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social

“[Talarico] will be California’s third Senator.” FACT CHECK: Ken Paxton spent most of his childhood in California. Except for his time at Harvard, James Talarico has spent his entire life in Texas.

5643h ago

Bill Mauldin6

Under that scenario we can also suggest Canadian Ted Cruz, with his frequent vacations, is being an agent for Mexico

raquelita1144.bsky.social2

Oh, Ken Paxton does love the safe & unquestioning interviewers at Fox. He hasn’t accepted any invitation to debate Talarico. He is 🐓💩

Biker Daddy1

He's using a state with the second or third largest economy in the world as a slur.

Sergeant Swamp💙1

Meantime this jerk is seen in Europe with his "latest" squeeze.

patriots522.bsky.social1

I don't know why that's an issue, they have a Canadian as a Senator.

Bella 🌊🌊1

In general, Texans are terrified of Californians.

Christopher Webb

@cwebbonline.com

Trump knows corruption when he sees it. He just thinks it’s a good thing. He called Ken Paxton “the best attorney general in this country.” 📌A judge said he sees a disturbing “pattern” in Paxton’s office: serious felony cases ending in plea deals with little or no jail time. #CostOfCorruption

1452h ago

Christopher Webb28

Child sexual abuse, human trafficking, an alleged hitman plot. #CostOfCorruption

Ana Marie Cox

@anamariecox.com

Interesting finding in latest TX senate poll: In a hypothetical match-up against Cornyn, it’s also Talarico by a hair/statistical tie: 43.6-42.7. That Cornyn doesn’t poll much better than Paxton should terrify the GOP. The problem isn’t just Paxton. www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/u...

1493h ago

Ana Marie Cox63

Indeed—and this should be much bigger news!—Hinojsa is behind Abbott by a single point: 46.9-45.8 Abbott has been out-raising Hinojosa 4:1, and is running as a three-term incumbent.

Asher Elbein11

I do wonder how much of this is down to a collapse in Hispanic support in the state, even outside the valley

gwen howerton

@kissphoria.bsky.social

trump, half asleep, on talarico: they tell me i have to say he's crazy. he believes in genders or whatever, can you believe it trump on paxton: he doesn't talk so good. they say sir, have you seen the way he dresses, a lot of people, not me, are thinking he's a slob. but he's an incredible guy

696h ago

CoCo ✌🏼💛🕊️

@coco.sheshed.rocks

Paxton is scared, as he should be. #JamesTalarico for U.S. Senate 🇺🇸 #ViVaHerAlliance #SheShed

""m going to keep bringing
Texans together .. and lower our costs."
— James Talarico
CBS News • May 27, 2026
JAMES TALARICO
SheShed

118h ago

delstonejr

@delstonejr.bsky.social

Voters in Texas are like: “Gosh, I just don’t know whom to vote for, the accused criminal or the actual Christian.” #Talarico #Paxton #Texas

106h ago

Rightardia

@rightardia.bsky.social

"(Adam) Mockler then rattled off a series of accusations against Paxton while arguing that Republicans had little standing to question Talarico’s judgment: “He let a pedophile go after one day for no reason as the AG. This is someone who was turned in by his own staffers . . ."

67h ago

tomwellborn3rd

@wellborn.net

A CNN panelist ran through Ken Paxton's record while defending Talarico: Paxton let a pedophile go free after one day as AG, was reported by his own staffers, got impeached by his party. He won his primary anyway on Trump's endorsement. GOP's response was to call him triggered.

77h ago