Paxton Says Dem Wants Kids to Go Trans
as Trump Makes Fun of AG to His Dismay
Capitol Inside
September 9, 2026
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made a pitch for a U.S. Senate bid on Wednesday night at the first-ever Republican midterm convention in Dallas where he portrayed Democrat James Talarico as a radical socialist who wants children to switch to different genders.
While Paxton's speech at a half-empty American Airlines Center was devoid of emotion and passion that other elected officials and candidates packed into pep talks on the novel event's opening day, President Donald Trump mentioned the Texas Senate contender several times in a long and rambling keynote.
Trump declared several times that Paxton has been the greatest attorney general in the history of Texas and the nation as a whole perhaps. The president said it was imperative that Paxton win the Senate seat for the Republicans in November. But Trump mixed the accolades with insults - repeating claims he made last week about the Texas candidate's speaking abilities and his taste in clothing.
"Some might not like the way he dresses," Trump said of the Texas AG. "You might not like the way he talks. He might not be the best looking guy I've ever seen."
While Trump appeared to be joking around with Paxton like teammates might in a locker room, the president said that the AG went "through the roof" when he mocked his apparel and ability to articulate. He said Paxton pleaded with him not to bring up the personal critique at the convention. But Trump said he felt compelled to raise the subject despite the Texan's appeal to drop it.
Paxton has expected the Trump rally to be a turning point for a campaign that's been a surprising disappointment up to now. The president said he would come back to Texas as many times as it would take to ensure that Paxton is the next senator from the Lone Star State.
But Paxton's speech at the rally was devoid of the passion and emotion that a parade of Republican candidates and officials packed into their own appeals for a unity for the party and support for individual races that have been close in most cases. The state AG was predictably casual and nonchalant in his approach to his part at the so-called convention that Trump believed would fire up base voters who've been uncharacteristically apathetic in some cases during the second year of the president's second term.
Paxton had the unenviable task of going on stage shortly after U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill - a Flower Mound Republican who's a dynamic speaker and viewed as a rapidly rising star in MAGA ranks. The Texas Senate contender's speech sounded like a page from the campaign talking points - with a plug for a tax break plan for homeowners as a weapon for a cost-of-living crisis and a summary of outrageous claims and positions Republicans have attributed to Talarico.
Talarico "is a Democrat socialist that never met a tax increase he didn't love," Paxton said of the state representative from Austin.
Paxton ran through some of the bizarre claims that he and other Republicans have made about Talarico - telling the audience that the Democrat hates Christianity and believes that God is non-binary. Paxton said Talarico "wants to transition your kids" and to "transition Texas off of oil and gas."
"I will fight to preserve America," Paxton vowed. "Talarico is running to destroy it."
The arena that's home to the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks appeared to be about 50 percent full when Paxton and several other Republicans in key Senate races took the stage in Dallas on Wednesday. Some people on the floor estimated that 60 percent of the seats in the AAC were occupied before Trump came out to speak. Trump said on Tuesday that the event was sold out even though the RNC had given away thousands of tickets to the public for no charge.
Paxton received a mild ovation as he repeated lines he's used in the recent past. "California already has two senators," Paxton told the audience. "It doesn't need a third. But that's exactly what James Talarico would be.
If we lose Texas, we lose the commonsense revolution," Paxton added. "If we lose the commonsense revolution, we lose America."
more to come ...
| 
