Althouse: "After Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement of Texas attorney general and all-in Trump sycophant Ken Paxton..."

May 31, 2026

"After Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement of Texas attorney general and all-in Trump sycophant Ken Paxton..."

"...who was impeached for multiple charges of abuse of office, investigated on felony security charges, and dogged by adulterous sexual imbroglios, the slippery MAGA sleazebag still went on to pulverize Senate old-timer John Cornyn in the Republican primary on Tuesday. And yet, liberal cableheads deconstructing the results keep recycling the point that, somehow this was good news. Millions of dollars, they chortled, will now have to be diverted from other imperiled Republicans to defend a Senate seat that, for four terms, had been occupied by the beloved party elder Cornyn and now will be in play against the Democrats’ latest Texan mirage and Colbert candidate James Talarico. When has Trump ever found it difficult to raise millions of dollars, especially against a Senate candidate who tweeted in 2021 that his office was 'the first in the history of the (Texas) Capitol to put pronouns on their business cards?' Paxton was already on a roll in his victory speech, immediately branding his Presbyterian seminarian opponent 'James Talafreako,' 'Six-Gender Jimmy,' and 'Tofu Talarico'...."

From "Trump’s Sweet Vengeance" by Tina Brown (at Substack).

38 comments:

Achilles said...: who was impeached for multiple charges of abuse of office, investigated on felony security charges, and dogged by adulterous sexual imbroglios, the slippery MAGA sleazebag still went on to pulverize Senate old-timer John Cornyn in the Republican primary on Tuesday

The Bush wing used to be strong in Texas.

Paxton did to the Bush "republicans" in Texas what Trump did to the DC "republicans."

They both had to deal with the same sleazy lawfare and they both have the same tepid support from the voters in the republican party who are more like democrats than the working class party we have become.; 5/31/26, 1:21 PM
Achilles said...: I really hope Talarico becomes a national star for the democrats.

please please please pretend Texas is in play and hype Talarico up.; 5/31/26, 1:23 PM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: "beloved party elder Cornyn" That was written by a libtard leftist. Normies don't love the politicians they support. We do love President Trump for many reasons, one of them is because he isn't a lifelong parasitic, useless politician.; 5/31/26, 1:24 PM
narciso said...: It isnt but wasnt that what they said about abortion barbie and skater punk o rourke; 5/31/26, 1:25 PM
Aggie said...: "...a Senate seat that, for four terms, had been occupied by the beloved party elder Cornyn...."

He was just beloved all the way out of office by the voters, after spending $100 million for a primary. Tina Brown, huh? Is that 'Vanity Fair, New Yorker, Tatler, Daily Beast' Tina Brown we're reading here? Hmmm.; 5/31/26, 1:25 PM
narciso said...: That was a serious misalocation of funds; 5/31/26, 1:28 PM
mikee said...: I, for one, live outside of Austin, Texas, and enjoy not living in Austin, Texas. And I have also enjoyed the Democratic campaigns of previous weaklings such as the pink-shoe wearing "Abortion Barbie" Wendy Davis, and extremely non-hispanic Ken doll "Beto" Robert Francis O'Rourke. They, too, were going crush their Republican enemies in presidential, senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns. James "I'm a Christian, really, I just believe in forced child mutilation" Talarico is also riding a wave of press plaudits.

This is where Morgan Freeman's narration comes in.
"Talarico will not win, either."; 5/31/26, 1:29 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Yeah he was impeached and found not guilty. The Establishment R's joined with the D's to impeach him. Paxton later found out the Bushes had been behind the whole thing, because he'd beaten their "Little brown one" for Texas AG.; 5/31/26, 1:30 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Its says a lot about Cornyn that Tina Brown, CNN, and most of the MSM were upset that such a "Resonable Republican" had lost. Cornyn definitely knew how to "reach accross the aisle" and help the D's pass their agenda.; 5/31/26, 1:33 PM
Iman said...: Tina Brown can bugger off.; 5/31/26, 1:39 PM
Aggie said...: "...There will be no snapback when he’s gone.....Trump has refashioned the country in his image..."

Don't misinterpret the message. People like Brown have always truly despised the average American voter, but now they can blame it on Trump.; 5/31/26, 1:40 PM
narciso said...: She might like that; 5/31/26, 1:42 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Cornyn was suggesting the R's go to "ranked voting" earlier this year. Or an open primary. Again, shows how loyal he was to his R voters.; 5/31/26, 1:45 PM
Bima said...: Paxton would win in a landslide if he didn't spend a dime; 5/31/26, 1:47 PM
Earnest Prole said...: I’m old enough to remember sky-high hopes for Abortion Barbie and Big Beta O’Rourke.; 5/31/26, 2:10 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: Criminals love other criminals very simple,endorse the fellow like you trump got billions no biggie SEND IT IN!; 5/31/26, 2:51 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ along with $1.8bn of Kleptocracy said...: Fox News reported that, at the end of their 3+ hour conversation, Joe Rogen asked Talarico to run for President, "We need someone who's actually a good person."

His senate campaign tagline is.. "It’s time to start flipping tables."

Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election for the Texas State Senate in a district that Trump carried by 17 points in 2024. She took the seat by an eye-popping margin of 57.2% to 42.8% — a massive 31.4-point swing.

If that trend holds, it could prove catastrophic for Republicans across Texas in the November midterms. The stakes go well beyond the state Senate: key races include the U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general, multiple statewide commissioners, and numerous U.S. House seats.

Texas flipping blue has been predicted many times before. But this time, Trump may have gone too far, Ken Paxton may be too toxic, and Texas Republicans too corrupt and spineless for the party to hold the state. Still, don’t hold your breath.; 5/31/26, 3:12 PM
narciso said...: Is there a competition for the stupid; 5/31/26, 3:19 PM
Mason G said...: "Is there a competition for the stupid"

They're all winners.; 5/31/26, 3:39 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ along with $1.8bn of Kleptocracy said...: 2018 is the benchmark -- the last mid-term election cycle. In that cycle Ted Cruz was not exactly popular with a favorability rating hovering around 45%. However, he was not as unpopular as Ken Paxton is right now with a favorability rating closer to 35%. Cruz ended up winning the race in 2018 by fewer than 3 percentage points even with the benefit of name recognition, incumbency, etc. The Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke over-performed his polls and did well, but he never led Cruz in any pre-election polls.

Paxton has even lower favorability ratings than Cruz. Talarico is arguably a stronger fit for the state than O'Rourke, who represented El Paso on the western edge of the state. Talarico is a state senator from the more populous central region. So stronger Democratic candidate, weaker Republican candidate.

Multiple polls have shown Talarico leading Paxton too, although Talarico has yet to hit the 50% mark in any of those polls, which is the point at which Talarico becomes a much more clear favorite. It would not surprise me if the mid-term electorate, which tends to be more politically engaged, higher income, and more highly educated, than a typical presidential cycle, leaned towards the Democrats this year.

On top of everything else, I have to think that the $130+ million spending with all the negative ads during the primary has to have hurt Paxton. The damage was not sufficient to keep Paxton from winning the nomination after a Trump endorsement temporarily wipes away the memory of his sins (from the minds of some right-wing voters at least).

However, the general electorate is not the same as the primary electorate. Right now Trump also has a net negative approval rating of nearly negative 10 points in the state according to the Texas Politics Project. This is before the economic damage from Trump's war in the Middle East has fully hit as well.

The Republicans have controlled the levers of state power for the better part of 30 years in Texas, so they are not going to let power go easily. However, I consider Talarico a slight favorite right now. But don't hold your breath...; 5/31/26, 3:53 PM
narciso said...: Hes stuck on the underground; 5/31/26, 4:07 PM
Eva Marie said...: Hey Dinky, I never knew what your name meant. Maybe you mentioned it and I missed it. Maybe everyone knows but me. But in case anyone else doesn’t know:
Điên cái đầu literally means something like “crazy [in] the head,” and GIs picked it up the way soldiers always pick up bits of the local language, usually mangled. “Dinky dau” became American GI shorthand for “crazy,” “nuts,” or “off his rocker.”; 5/31/26, 4:07 PM
Iman said...: Brown continues to chortle plums, as does Dinky.; 5/31/26, 4:28 PM
Iman said...: beaucoup dau…; 5/31/26, 4:29 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: bINGO eva!! 45 Beaucoup dINKY dAU shouted from the hooch!; 5/31/26, 4:35 PM
narciso said...: He cant be vietnamese they are smart; 5/31/26, 4:42 PM
john mosby said...: More like on the hooch....; 5/31/26, 4:44 PM
narciso said...: The demonic goblin is hard to take but i know he wont win texaa; 5/31/26, 4:47 PM
Jupiter said...: When I first saw that, I thought they meant Tina Peters. Who is supposed to be released from the Colorado Gulag tomorrow.; 5/31/26, 4:53 PM
narciso said...: They ruined several formerly respectable publications; 5/31/26, 4:56 PM
narciso said...: She and harold evans; 5/31/26, 4:56 PM
Achilles said...: Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ along with $1.8bn of Kleptocracy said...

Texas flipping blue has been predicted many times before. But this time, Trump may have gone too far, Ken Paxton may be too toxic, and Texas Republicans too corrupt and spineless for the party to hold the state. Still, don’t hold your breath.

LOL

I really hope the democrat party is as retarded as Chuck and dumps resources into getting Talerico's face in front of as many Americans as possible.; 5/31/26, 5:16 PM
narciso said...: Its extra derp but rosie o donnell is broke; 5/31/26, 5:23 PM
narciso said...: That was one of the big o rourke funders; 5/31/26, 5:26 PM
Leland said...: Tina working the grift on the lefties who will buy that nonsense. Reminder, must of the Republicans that voted to impeach Paxton were voted out for their stupidity, and the impeachment went nowhere in the Senate, because there was nothing to it. It was nothing more than a typical leftist smear operation, and those keep backfiring on them recently.; 5/31/26, 5:28 PM
narciso said...: Twist and Tur: MS NOW 'Journo' Claims Dem James Talarico Took Back ‘God Is Non-Binary’ - He Didn’t – Twitchy https://share.google/Y2GzheTUugU5hT6Xg; 5/31/26, 5:31 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: According to the left, nobody allies themselves with Trump because they agree with him on policy or see him as a competent leader. They are always “sycophants,” or “henchmen” or such.; 5/31/26, 5:34 PM
Saint Croix said...: Do you know why she was booted from running the the Daily Beast? She lost Barry Diller $60 million dollars when she acquired Newsweek.

"We're all socialists now"

"The First Gay President"

Imagine investing $1 and losing $60 million. Ouch. Anyway, she has learned a lesson or two. Anytime the left tries to be "positive" or "honest," people run screaming from their ideas. So the key is to be relentlessly negative.

On the positive side, at least she's not claiming that Trump is a Nazi or that Texas is about to go Nazi. Perhaps because all the Nazis are voting Democrat these days? The Trump-Israel love affair has stifled and constipated the liberal press. More prunes, would be my advice.; 5/31/26, 5:43 PM