Ken Paxton has spent over a decade as one of America's most combative attorneys general, filing lawsuits against federal immigration policies, challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election, and surviving a historic impeachment trial. Now, with a Texas Senate seat within reach and a fresh Trump endorsement in hand, a new controversy threatens to define how voters see him — and it has nothing to do with his political rivals.
President Trump declared Paxton a 'true MAGA Warrior' in a Truth Social post on 19 May, throwing his weight behind the Texas Attorney General ahead of a 26 May Republican primary runoff against four-term Senator John Cornyn. The endorsement landed just days after a Texas Tribune investigation revealed that prosecutors from Paxton's own office had offered a Waco man charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a young boy a plea deal that amounted to a single day in jail.
