A high-profile endorsement by Donald Trump in the Texas Republican Senate runoff could accidentally help a Democrat win the seat, according to Fox News Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume.
On Tuesday, Trump gave his official backing to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton is competing against Senator John Cornyn in next week’s runoff election. The runoff is happening because neither candidate won a clear majority in the Republican primary back in March.
Paxton enters the final stretch of the election with a history of political scandals. He was previously impeached by the Republican-led Texas House of Representatives for abusing his power. The official impeachment charges alleged that Paxton used his office to help Nate Paul, a donor under federal investigation. Additionally, the charges stated that Paul hired a woman who was having an affair with Paxton, and that this hiring happened because the attorney general asked for it.
READ: Texas Senate Race Explodes As Trump Backs ‘MAGA Warrior’ Paxton For Runoff
The Republican who wins next week’s runoff will move on to the general election to face state Democratic Representative James Talarico.
On Wednesday’s broadcast of Special Report, host Bret Baier highlighted a Wall Street Journal editorial. The piece argued that Trump “will deserve complete and total credit” if Paxton wins the runoff but goes on to lose the general election to Talarico.
Hume agreed that the move puts a reliably Republican seat at risk. Commenting on Trump’s decision to pass over the sitting senator, Hume said, “The reasons he didn’t get it are pretty flimsy on the president’s part.”
Hume indicated that the endorsement severely damages Cornyn’s chances of beating Paxton next week, which changes the math for the general election.
“And I think that the seat is now at least in some danger,” Hume said. “Look, Texas is still Texas. Ken Paxton may yet win, but he has a ton of baggage. There’s no doubt about that, and he doesn’t really bring in all segments of the Republican base. So we’ll see. And Talarico, he’s got some baggage, too, but he’s a slick talker and impresses a lot of people. So, he’s got a shot now that maybe he didn’t have if his opponent had been Cornyn.”
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox
