Fox News host Brian Kilmeade delivered a blunt assessment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday, calling out the Republican’s shortcomings on the campaign trail as the high-stakes battle for a U.S. Senate seat in the Lone Star State heads into its final stretch.
The exchange came during an appearance on “The Story” with anchor Martha MacCallum, who opened the discussion by pointing to analysts, including Mark Halperin, who believe the Senate races in Alaska and Texas are likely to break more toward Republicans as Election Day approaches. She asked Kilmeade for his take.
Kilmeade said he was confident about Alaska, noting he had seen a poll showing Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in the lead for what may be the first time in the entire cycle. He said there was a candidate in the race who had been put there by Democrats, and pointed to a story from the previous week about Democrat Mary Peltola.
According to Kilmeade, nine former staffers came forward describing Peltola as abusive to work for. He said she fired two people on the same day she won her primary and offered no real response to the allegations, other than saying she had been going through a difficult time in her life.
Turning to Texas, Kilmeade highlighted the staggering sums of outside money flooding into the contest, citing $122 million from one PAC, $66 million from another, and an additional $20 million on top of that.
“That’s a lot of money to spend in 30 days,” Kilmeade said, adding that the spending appeared aimed at picking up two points.
The Fox News host then made a striking claim: that a Democrat in the mold of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman could win in Texas, because Paxton has “huge problems.”
Kilmeade praised Paxton as a great attorney general and a staunch MAGA loyalist, but said he is a “very bad campaigner.” He added that Paxton comes across as lazy and somewhat ungrateful, based on details reported by The New York Times that Paxton has not denied.
MacCallum jumped in, referencing reports that Paxton had suggested the convention did not do much to help his campaign.
“Maybe it’s you!” MacCallum said.
“We were in Texas for him,” Kilmeade noted.
“Ask yourself, could it be me?” MacCallum quipped.
Kilmeade then set his sights on Paxton’s Democratic opponent, James Talarico, accusing him of insincerely reshaping his image. Kilmeade argued that Talarico cannot credibly present himself as a moderate, claiming that left-wing streamer Hasan Piker had “outed him” the day before.
According to Kilmeade, Piker said he had put Talarico in that position and that Talarico would do what he told him.
“Is Hasan Piker a moderate?” Kilmeade asked.
The segment underscored growing frustration among some conservatives over how Paxton is running his campaign, even as massive sums pour into a race that could help decide control of the Senate.
