Ken Paxton Senate Win Raises New Questions About Trump Loyalty and Republican Standards

I was really drawn into politics here locally when I started seeing the property tax rallies at the Indiana Statehouse in 2007, 2008, and the property tax fights that ultimately culminated in property tax caps in the state of Indiana. And I remember like being a Republican, a casual Republican, and then watching these people and watching the parties and starting to kind of realize, like, what would make you actually a Republican other than, hey, the Republicans are the party of low taxes, right?

Rob Kendall Says Republican Party No Longer Rewards Independent Thought or Accountability

And one of the things that was very appealing to me was that, one, the Republicans seemed the party of the bigger tent, right? Like, I didn’t feel like I really fit in anywhere. But of all the places, the Republicans, I sort of had the most amount of their views and they seemed the most open. Like they seem the most, hey, you can come in here and we’re going to tolerate you, right? We may not agree with you. We may not prop you up as a poster child for the party. But like when I ran for public office and won, I’m not that much different than I am today. I’m much more informed about how it all works. I’m a lot more jaded about it all. I’m a lot less optimistic. But in terms of my views and my personality, it wasn’t that much different. And I was welcomed. They were like, it’s a young guy. We need more young people in our party. It’s a young dude. Like, let’s embrace this guy. Let’s invite him to stuff. Let’s ask him to go to things. I’m banned now. That’s how far we’ve come. And I was like, okay, like there’s a lot of Republicans I don’t agree with. We can have that battle. But I feel like this is a place that invites free thought. It invites accountability, I guess, for a lack of a better term. And the other thing about Republicans that I liked was Republicans police their own. Republicans, I felt like, were very good at saying there are certain things, certain people, we ain’t going to tolerate it. It wasn’t about views. It was about behavior, how you carried yourself in the office. And maybe I was naive to that, maybe even imagined it, but that’s what I felt the Republican Party was about. I felt like it was the party of free thought, vast array of ideas, and they police their own. And I look at what the Republican Party is now, and it’s like that thing I started with is gone. Like you look at how any person who at all disagrees with Trump gets an entire portion of the internet to in a very mean spirited fashion turn against them. Attack them. Go after them. See Thomas Massie. That’s over with. There is no free thought in the Republican Party now. There really are no ideas in the Republican Party now. The Republican Party really is becoming whatever Trump wants, and it’s not around a core set of convictions. They put a name on it, right? They call it America First. But what does that even mean? There is no battle of ideas anymore. There is no, hey, this person thinks this and this person thinks this, and okay, reasonable people can disagree. And then we’ll meet, you know, we’ll meet back because we’re all in the know. It’s not. We’re not on the same team anymore. You’re either all on Trump’s team or you’re done. And we also, as a part of this, where the Trump absolutism has become the only thing that matters. We’re no longer policing our own. Like, look at Diego Morales. What is his selling point now in that press release he sent out to the delegates or that letter he sent out to the delegates? By the way, everybody said, call Diego, is that right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Okay, I’ll do it today. I will call him today. I wonder if he’s got caller ID on his phone. He wouldn’t have your number in there. No that’s right. He wouldn’t. Maybe he has it in there anyway just in case. He’s like if Kendall calls, I’m gonna know it’s him. How do you think Diego answers the phone? That’s what I’m most curious is, Diego, you’re the man. Go. Like, what do we do here? That’s what I want to know. Diego. I’m calling you later today. I want to know how you answer the phone. But Diego Morales, what’s his selling point? Yeah, okay, I okay, sure, sure. I hired a noncitizen. Right. But I’ve been loyal to Trump. Like, all this stuff through the whole thing. Like, even in these endorsements these guys were throwing out, like Diego’s loyalty to Trump was what they were hanging their hat on before they then unendorsed him and unhung their hat on him. We don’t police our own anymore. And last night was another example of this, in which voters in Texas nominated Ken Paxton to be their U.S. Senate candidate to take on Talarico, the Democrat who’s running this fall. And Ken Paxton was running against John Cornyn. So the way Texas works a little different than here in Indiana, in Texas, they have a primary like we do. But if no one gets to 50% plus one of the vote, then you have what’s called a runoff, where the top two vote getters then run in another election. This, to me, is the most stupid way, the absolute most stupid way to do an election. There’s an election, you vote, somebody gets the most votes, that person wins. That’s how they do it in Texas. And so I believe Cornyn actually won the primary like the actual primary. Cornyn got the most votes. John Cornyn is what was Paxton’s opponent. Cornyn is kind of a weasel. He’s been in the Senate since 2002, very establishment type figure. But when you put his resume up against Ken Paxton, it’s like, okay, I guess I’ll take the establishment weasel. So Cornyn actually won the primary, got the most votes. But then Paxton. Cornyn got the most votes. Neither one of them got close to 50%. So they had a runoff. And that was last night. And the voters picked Ken Paxton. And not only like did the voters of Texas pick Paxton, which is their right. Trump endorsed Paxton, which is why he won. And the internet community was fawning over Paxton because Trump endorsed Paxton. But I know I’ve done this before on this show, but let me read you Ken Paxton’s resume, shall we? He’s currently the attorney general for Texas. In 2015, Paxton was indicted over accusations of defrauding investors. This went on for nine years, guys. And in 2024, Paxton made a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to pay almost $300,000 in restitution and complete 100 hours of community service. Now, they ultimately dropped the charges as part of this. But if you agree to pay that money back and you agree to community service, that while I don’t know if it’s technically guilty or not, that sounds guilty to me. In 2020. But wait, wait, wait, there’s more. We’re just scratching the surface. In 2020, Paxton was also accused by eight members of his senior staff. Eight people who worked for him of taking bribes from a real estate developer and abusing his office. The aides reported Paxton to the FBI, which then launched their own investigation. Paxton later fired four of these people, the whistleblowers, which resulted in them suing on claims of retaliation. And they won $6.6 million. That FBI investigation, along with the complaints from the whistleblowers, prompted the Texas State House, which is run by Republicans, to impeach Paxton on 20 articles. The Senate later failed to acquit or later failed to convict him. They acquitted him on 16 and dismissed four others as part of that impeachment. Prosecutors alleged that the real estate developer Paxton had allegedly been bribed by hired Paxton’s girlfriend so that the two could meet in secret in Austin. The only problem with that, Paxton was married at the time. Paxton’s wife, she was a member of the state Senate. So you’ve got a guy paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution for essentially defrauding investors. 100 hours of community service. As a part of that, his senior staff, like people he had elevated, blew the whistle on him for alleged bribery, which resulted in his own party impeaching him. Oh, and he was also allegedly fooling around with his wife on his wife, who was a member of the Senate.

Ken Paxton Victory Highlights Growing Influence of Trump Endorsements in Republican Primaries

And yesterday, not only were Republicans like, give me some of that. The internet community was elated because Trump had endorsed him. Like victory laps. Like, oh my gosh, thank God Ken Paxton is here. Like, hey, one little thing or one thing, hey, people get falsely accused all the time, right? But when we’re on thing like 4 or 5, it’s like the same thing with Diego. You aren’t a victim on everything. There are times where people get wrongfully accused. It does happen. But when it’s over and over and over and it’s multiple people telling the same accounts, guys, what are we doing? It’s one thing to not like John Cornyn. Okay, great. Fabulous there with you. But it’s another thing to be celebrating the fact that this guy, I mean, this guy is one of the last people given his repetitive behavior you should want in charge of trillions of dollars taxpayer money. Here’s what. And what’s fascinating to me is, and look, guys, we’re going to find out this fall. We’re going to find out this fall what Trump’s actual standing with the American public is. Now, as we talked about the other day, the one thing Trump has going for him, even though the American public, in poll after poll after poll, absolutely hates him, is that they really dislike the Democrats, too. And this may be, it may end up being one of these totally bizarre years where the party in power somehow clings on to power. Probably not. Trump is so unpopular. And if you look at the history of this country, I would be floored if the Democrats don’t take the House of Representatives. I think there’s a puncher’s chance they can take four Senate seats and get the Senate, too. Doesn’t mean it’s going to happen because of the redistricting that’s taking place. The Republicans will pick up a few seats. And look, I also don’t think there’s going to be some 2010 Obama type bloodbath where the opposing party gets 62 seats. But if you look at the history of Trump, when he is either not on the ballot or unpopular, 18, 2022. Trump candidates don’t do well. Republicans lost multiple Senate seats in 2022 in a Republican year because Trump went behind squirrels. See Doctor Oz. Doctor Oz lost to a guy at one point said, hi, good night, everybody. In the debate. Fetterman with the big bulge sticking out of his neck. Like Trump does not have a good track record when he is not on the ballot. It’s not great. And yet the Republicans are doing this like victory lap because, well, Trump guy won in a primary. Okay. Last night, Paxton said, quote, President Trump is a leader of our party and his endorsement is the most powerful force in politics. That’s not true at all. Donald Trump’s endorsement in a Republican primary is the biggest mover. Absolutely. Absolutely. But last time I checked, if you’re in any sort of swing district or swing state, the primary doesn’t get you the office. The primary doesn’t deliver victory. You got to win a general election, and for some reason we have now made, look, he’s the president of the United States. Guys, why are we acting like it’s some big deal that the president of the United States can win? His endorsement can win primary elections for people. Wouldn’t that be the story if it couldn’t? Like, wouldn’t the story be president loses endorsement endorsed candidate loses? Like, wouldn’t that be the story? Wouldn’t we expect whether it’s Bush or Obama or Clinton or whoever, that the president, the sitting president should be able to deliver in primaries? And yet we keep acting like everybody’s so surprised by this. Why would anybody be surprised? It’s not victory where it matters, which is the general election. And Ken Paxton, what are we saying about ourselves when we’re doing happy dances? We’re a guy who defrauded investors, who is impeached over bribery, who’s screwing around on his wife as the sitting attorney general. Look, what people do in their own marriages is their business. But it becomes the public business when you’re a public officeholder. I don’t care what you do in your marriage. I don’t care unless you’re taking my tax money. Unless you’re trying to win a public office where you can tell me what to do, then I get to care. Your business is your business. Until you’re telling me how to live my life, then I get to know about your business. Ken Paxton is a nightmare. And in the modern Republican Party, we are celebrating it. In the modern day Republican Party. We are saying, this is awesome. Why is this awesome? You don’t have to be for Cornyn. You don’t have to like the establishment. You don’t have to like the direction of the country. But are we lying to ourselves? Like, are we such a grifter society now? That’s where I think we’re at or whatever Trump says. There’s so many people who believe their key to elevation rests around Trump orbit, pushing you forward, that they’ll just say anyone is great. Ken Paxton is not great. Ken Paxton’s a dirt ball. Does anybody think that this guy is going to go into Washington and do right for them? Look at how he’s handled his affairs so far as an elected official. Look how he’s handled his personal life as an elected official. When somebody with which appears to have so little self control, you think that person is going to go into the Washington swamp and be a fighter for you?

Texas Senate Race Raises Concerns About Republican Electability in General Elections

By the way, the Cook Political Report, for those who don’t know, that is an organization named after, is it Charlie Cook? I think it was the guy’s name. Well, anyway, he was a pollster. He became famous years later. He would rate Senate races. And he, you know, based on who the nominees were, what they were seeing on the ground, they would read polls, they would interpret it. And it sort of kind of been the one of the gold standards people have used based on, hey, who do we pump money into? What, what races do we really get behind? The Cook Political Report shifted its rating of the Senate race from likely Republican to leans Republican as soon as Paxton was declared the nominee, citing, quote, Paxton’s litany of ethical lapses for Democrats to exploit. They have moved the race, so it still leans Republican like it still may go Republican. It’s more likely to go Republican than Democrat, but not, hey, let’s pack it up. Ken Paxton being the nominee. And Talarico, who is the gold, the new golden boy for the Democrats. I mean, the Democrats are going to spend a gazillion dollars in Texas. Ken Paxton being the nominee feels very similar to Richard Mourdock being the nominee in Indiana in 2012. Now, Richard Mourdock didn’t have personal scandals. He wasn’t accused of the things Paxton is. For those who don’t know, most of your longtime political observers, Richard Mourdock was the state treasurer in 2012 in Indiana. He ran in a Republican primary against Richard Lugar. Richard Lugar, of course, was a longtime Republican senator, at one point had run for president, was a beloved Indiana political figure, and Mourdock ran hard to Lugar’s right, said Lugar was too old. He’d been there too long. He was too cozy with Obama, and Lugar smoked him in the primary the same way Paxton smoked Cornyn yesterday. And people and myself included, right? We’re like, oh, thank God we’re done with Richard Lugar, right? Thank God we’re done with Lugar. The problem was that Mourdock was a bad candidate. Mourdock’s bad candidacy was not scandals. He personally was a fine man. His bad candidacy was he came off as a weirdo. By the way, Richard Mourdock was a brilliant person. He struggled to human. But he was a brilliant person. He was a gemologist. He was a Lincoln historian. I mean, IQ off the charts. But he came off as very abrasive. He came off as very unlikable. He alienated a lot of the establishment Lugar Republicans, not just because he won, but the way in which he won. And these people were looking for a reason to bail on him. And then, of course, Richard Mourdock, in the last U.S. Senate debate, made a horrible comment about abortion and rape, and his campaign imploded because everyone was looking for a reason to bail on him. And he gave it to them and he lost. He lost to Joe Donnelly. The Paxton campaign and the Paxton person, per Paxton, the person. It feels very Richard Mourdock waiting to happen. Not because Mourdock had the same personal issues, but just because there’s a huge swath of the Republican Party that was looking for a reason to bail on Mourdock. And there appears to be a huge swath of the Republican Party that looks for a reason to bail on Paxton.

Paxton Comparison to Richard Mourdock Revives Questions About GOP Candidate Quality

And Talarico is going to get millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars of earned media and publicity, and they’re going to make him the golden boy. And the first thing Talarico did, and this is really brilliant. Look, I’m not saying Talarico is a great candidate. He has Beto vibes to me. I’m not saying there’s substance there. I’m not saying he’s great. I’m not saying I’d vote for him. I’m telling you, I’ve seen this play out before. The first thing Talarico did this was his quote after the election. I want to thank Senator Cornyn for his years representing our state. We don’t agree on everything, but we both believe in public service. To Senator Cornyn supporters. You have a place in our campaign. That’s a really good first opening salvo. That’s really smart. And again, my question to the people of Texas and the people on the internet who are happy, all of this for a complete scumbag. All of this for Ken Paxton. What are you winning? If Ken Paxton wins? What are you getting that you’re so excited about? What’s the thing that you’re like, we’ll show em. That’ll show em. Paxton’s gonna be in there, baby. The guy who was impeached over bribery. The guy who defrauded investors. The guy who was allegedly screwing around on his wife while his wife’s in the Senate working that. That’s it. That’s your guy? That’s what we’re proud of. I don’t know what the Republican Party is. And look, I don’t expect anybody to be Mother Teresa. I don’t care about your personal life. I don’t care what you do until you’re in public office. Then I care when you. And I don’t even care until the guy’s running to now, Lord over my life. Like I didn’t give a damn about it when he was the attorney general of Texas, because I don’t live in Texas. I am, however, a citizen of the United States, unlike, apparently, the woman who was the deputy chief of staff for Diego Morales. I am a citizen and as a citizen of this country who pays taxes, who Ken Paxton will be in charge of. This scares me to death because not only is this scumbag, he appears to be a scumbag with zero self-control, zero self-control, zero self restraint. He appears to be a guy just like Diego Morales, who believes he’s entitled to whatever he wants, and he can get away with whatever he wants. That is a recipe for disaster.