Following the acquittal of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on impeachment charges, Paxton joined Tucker Carlson for an interview to discuss the state of Texas politics.
Carlson drew attention to the ongoing crisis at Texas’ southern border and asked Paxton how he felt U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R–TX) has handled it.
“I have no idea why he doesn’t seem to address this on a regular basis,” answered Paxton. “Thank God Ted Cruz has, but John Cornyn has been basically vacant on this issue.”
When Carlson asked why, Paxton said, “He’s been in Washington too long… And I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country, let alone the fact that we have a massive invasion into our state, and he doesn’t speak out against it. He doesn’t do anything. I have never seen a proposed legislation that significantly affects it, or at least push hard for it. I haven’t seen him in that fight.”
After Carlson asked how “a guy like that can be your senator,” Paxton said he believes it’s because Cornyn has “never really had competition.”
Carlson then questioned whether Paxton would consider running against Cornyn when his term ends in 2026.
“Everything’s on the table for me,” said Paxton. “Now that I’ve been through this, and I’ve seen how guys like John Cornyn have represented the State of Texas and not represented us, I think it’s time. Somebody needs to step up and run against this guy that will do the job and do it the right way and represent us and worry about what’s going on at the border.”
“From an outsider’s perspective,” Carlson said, Cornyn “seems like a puppet of the Bush family.”
“He is absolutely,” said Paxton.
Paxton recently highlighted the influence of the Bush family machine on his impeachment in an interview with Texas Scorecard.
Paxton explained to Carlson that Cornyn was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court by then Gov. George W. Bush. He said Cornyn pushed through Texas’ ‘Robin Hood’ plan, which allows the state to take property taxes from property-rich districts and award it to property-poor districts through “judicial activism.”
“John Cornyn created a socialistic network,” said Paxton. “And really, I think he hurt our schools and hurt our ability to educate our kids. And he got away with it. No one ever talks about it. But he did that for the Bush’s.”
And now whenever they asked him to speak—criticize me when I’m running against George P. Bush, or criticize me when I had this happen—he does what they ask him to do. He is a puppet of the Bush and Karl Rove team.
Cornyn came under fire from Texas Republicans last year when he joined Democrat lawmakers in crafting legislation to expand gun control regulations. Polling of delegates to the Republican Party of Texas convention found that sixty-seven percent of delegates had an unfavorable opinion of Cornyn, while 16 percent supported him.
In the past few years, Cornyn has also demonstrated his willingness to compromise on illegal immigration.
To watch the full interview with Tucker Carlson, click here.
Cornyn’s office did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s request for comment.
