A CNN panel moderated by Manu Raju previewed a brutal GOP Senate primary in Texas — and the nightmare candidate who might emerge from it — on Tuesday

“No state understands a Hail Mary better than Texas. And when it comes to the fight for a Donald Trump endorsement in the state’s Senate race, Ken Paxton is ready to shoot his shot. My new reporting today with my colleagues Sarah Ferris and Jeff Zeleny track the Texas attorney general 4,500 miles from home, all the way to the Scottish village of Turnberry while the president was there,” began Raju. “The two did not play a round of golf together and it’s actually not even clear Trump was expecting to run into Paxton. But our reporting shows that, quote, ‘the two crossed paths, according to three people familiar with this exchange, and spoke privately for several minutes about the Texas race.’ Notably, public and private polls do show Paxson with an advantage over the 22-year veteran Senator John Cornyn.”

“I mean, this is a very difficult decision for Donald Trump, who’s in the middle of this, because there’s some MAGA allies who are very much in line with Ken Paxton, want him to get behind Ken Paxton, but Republican leaders are furiously supporting John Cornyn. They are fearful that if Ken Paxton wins his primary, it will cost them a critical Senate race when they’re trying to hang onto the majority,” added Raju before turning to the Associated Press’s Seung Min Kim.

“Republican leaders clearly behind John Cornyn here. And John Corbyn, obviously, has tried to make himself into an ally of the president, showing his voting record,” commented Kim.

“Ken Paxton has really shaped himself into a MAGA ally. But you’re right,” she continued. “You know, the private-, public and private polling shows that if Paxton is a nominee, the Democrats do have a true shot in that-, true shot in that race, and that is a risk that Republican leaders do not want to take right now.”

Paxton was impeached in the Texas House of Representatives for “bribery, abuse of power and other crimes” back in 2023 before being narrowly acquitted in the state senate.

His wife recently announced she was divorcing him on “biblical grounds” — that is, adultery or abandonment — citing “recent discoveries.”

Watch above via CNN.

The post CNN Previews Brutal GOP Senate Primary in Texas: ‘Democrats Do Have a True Shot’ If Ken Paxton Wins first appeared on Mediaite.

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