Texas AG Paxton to Newsmax: Running on Experience With Trump’s Backing

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, after scoring a much-sought endorsement from former President Donald Trump in his race for reelection, told Newsmax Tuesday that he’s honored by the backing and said he’s planning to campaign against challenger George P. Bush on the strength of his own time in office.  

“I have a lot of respect for the president for what he did during his four years as much as any president I’ve ever seen,” the Texas Republican said on Newsmax’s “National Report.”

“My race is going to be about me and what I’ve done in the last eight years and in my defense of my state, fighting the Biden administration with 11 lawsuits.” 

He also noted his experience with taking on big tech and immigration, adding that he is looking forward to the challenge posed by Bush, the son of Jeb Bush, the grandson of late President George H.P. Bush, and the nephew of former President George W. Bush. 

Bush had also been seeking Trump’s endorsement. 

Meanwhile, Paxton discussed his state’s ongoing fight against illegal immigration, including the current work to arrest and jail migrants in an attempt to control the border crisis. 

At this point, the immigrants are being held in the Del Rio area, but other places will have to be found to hold people, said Paxton. 

“I really applaud the governor for doing this because it’s clear to us that the federal government that Joe Biden and his administration are not going to protect the citizens of Texas or this country,” said Paxton.

The state would “love to work” with Border Patrol agents, but the administration has “basically shut them down” and made their jobs more about logistics and moving people around, said Paxton. 

“I know they’re frustrated by that, because they had a job to do, and they did it in the Trump administration,” he said. “Now the governor is working with their own state police who he can direct through the head of our law enforcement. We’ll continue to use the state resources that we have to protect as many citizens of the state as we can, and again, the governor is doing the right thing.

Paxton also said he’s seen the materials that were to go to the border wall construction “rusting and wasting away.”

“Somebody has to watch those materials,” said Paxton. “Obviously there are millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars worth of material, so it doesn’t surprise me that we’re spending that money and that we’re still potentially paying other contractors not to build the wall.”

Meanwhile, contracts have been officially canceled for some 30 miles of border wall construction in Texas, with officials reportedly saying the barriers were not necessary to save lives.

“They obviously have not been on the board to deal with the cartels, the cartels or committing crimes, human trafficking, sex trafficking, drug driving that does affect human lives, and if they could just go to the border and see the people that are affected, even by just the trespassing and the fear of being harmed,” said Paxton. “These are people making decisions that don’t want to see the truth. That won’t even come talk to the people that are dealing this.”

Meanwhile, some of the Democrats who left Texas to thwart a vote on election reform legislation have returned, and even though they haven’t been arrested, as Abbott has promised, that could still happen, said Paxton. 

“The end of the session, I think is Aug. 6,” he said. “It runs 30 days and my guess is what the governor will do. Is calling another special session the very next day or within a close timetable to that, and they’ll either have to decide whether they’re gonna live in Texas or live somewhere else and eventually they are going to have to come to do their jobs.”

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