MESSING WITH TEXAS

Trump Deployed to Save Failing MAGA Candidate

A cash-strapped Ken Paxton has recruited Donald Trump to campaign for him amid a donor revolt.

President Donald Trump is being sent to Texas, a reliably Republican state, to stump for his Senate pick.

Republicans have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, the state’s scandal-ridden attorney general whom Trump endorsed over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. Polls show the seat is a toss-up, a worrying sign as Texas Republicans have held it since 1961.

His opponent, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, has a strong fundraising advantage, a bad sign for national Republicans, as they will now have to fight to save a seat they would typically win handily. At the same time, Cornyn was also a very strong fundraiser for the national GOP.

Even Paxton’s own campaign has admitted that the fundraising is abysmal, sending out a recent email to donors saying with subject lines like “This is bad. Very bad!” and “Outraised by over 300%.”

Paxton also admitted in a recent Fox News hit that his campaign was a fundraising fiasco, saying, “We’re trying to get help from all over the country. We need help.”

The president will stump for Paxton at an August 27 fundraiser for Paxton in Houston, an event that could help him raise millions of dollars if donors get behind him.

But some of his donors are showing signs of revolting, with several telling ABC News that they had been put off by Paxton’s numerous scandals

“[Paxton] needs to be calling and getting to know Cornyn donors,” a Texas-based GOP consultant told ABC News, adding that he will get a lot of “uncomfortable questions” from donors and that “the vast majority of major GOP donors and business leaders in Texas don’t like Paxton.”

Donors also said Paxton’s numerous scandals have not helped his case with voters.

In 2015, one year after he was elected state attorney general, Paxton was charged with securities fraud, which was eventually settled out of court in 2024 but required Paxton to admit guilt and pay $300,000 in restitution.

His wife, Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, also filed for divorce “on biblical grounds” last year.

Angela Paxton seemingly reached a breaking point with her husband after his 2023 impeachment trial in the Texas House, which focused heavily on reports of an earlier affair with a woman named Laura Olsen and his alleged attempts to cover it up.

In 2023, House impeachment managers alleged Paxton went to criminal lengths to hide the affair from both his wife and religious voters in Texas, as they accused him of bribery, abuse of office, and obstruction of justice in connection with a close political donor.

While the Texas House voted to impeach Paxton on the charges, the state’s Senate ultimately acquitted him.

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Paxton has also been under fire for spending the most recent July 4th holiday in the U.K. with his mistress, Christian influencer Tracy Duhon, 58, right in the midst of his flailing campaign.

Even so, and despite knowing Paxton’s scandalous past, Trump endorsed him right before his runoff election against Cornyn, calling him “someone who has always been extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT,” while dissing Cornyn as disloyal and complaining he “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”

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Annabella RosciglioneReporter

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