People: "Trump Insults Ken Paxton’s Style and ‘Looks’ in Backhanded Senate Endorsement: ‘I Might as Well Say It’ . . .
Trump Insults Ken Paxton’s Style and ‘Looks’ in Backhanded Senate Endorsement: ‘I Might as Well Say It’
“You might not love his look, you might not love his television interviews,” Trump said of the Texas Republican running in one of the country’s highest-stakes Senate races
By Joseph Konig Published on September 3, 2026 11:46AM EDT
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PIC CAPTION: President Donald Trump speaks in the White House Rose Garden on Sept. 2; Texas AG Ken Paxton campaigns for Senate in San Antonio on Aug. 29.
Credit : Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty; Ken Paxton/Facebook
President Donald Trump repeatedly disparaged the fashion and speaking style of Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for Senate in a Texas race shaping up to be one of the most important of the 2026 midterms.
At multiple events on Wednesday, Sept. 2, Trump brought up “the way he dresses” unprompted and offered his endorsement to the Texas attorney general even though “some people don’t like the way he interviews or talks.”
“We’re going to go to Texas and work for Ken Paxton, who’s a great guy. I mean — so Ken Paxton, you might not like the way he dresses. And I say this, it’s so insulting to him, but I might as well say it,” Trump said at a gathering of Republican lawmakers in the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday evening. “You might not like the way he looks, you might not love his look, you might not love his television interviews, but he was the best attorney general in the country, perhaps.”
“And that speaks a lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great, or than anything, frankly. He was maybe the best attorney — and everybody admits it,” Trump added.
Paxton, 63, is in a tight race with Democratic nominee James Talarico, a 37-year-old state lawmaker who is leading by slim margins in public polls as he attempts to become the first Texas Democrat to win a statewide election since 1994.
Paxton’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE on Thursday, Sept. 3.
Trump endorsed Paxton in a contentious primary, helping him beat incumbent Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican who was first elected in 2002.
The president flew to Texas last week to attend a fundraiser for Paxton and pledged on Tuesday to return to Texas again to campaign for his ally in one of the Senate races that will decide which party controls Congress for the final two years of his term.
Despite his enthusiastic support for Paxton’s candidacy, the president had his mind on the longtime Texas attorney general’s style and “looks” multiple times this week.
“We have a guy named Ken Paxton, and some people don’t like the way he dresses,” Trump said at an earlier Oval Office gathering of travel industry executives. “Or some people don’t like the way he interviews or talks. But you know the one thing about him? He was the best attorney general in this country for the last 10 years or more, the most effective, the hardest working.”
“And so, I don’t care about an interview, and I don’t care about the way he dresses,” the president added.
Paxton’s fashion choices took heat from the Talarico campaign earlier in the week for photos he posted while campaigning in San Antonio over the weekend that featured him wearing what appeared to be $41,000 luxury gold watch and a purple shirt sporting the Four Seasons Orlando’s golf club logo.
“Nothing says you understand the affordability crisis like wearing a $41,000 watch and a Four Seasons polo,” Talarico wrote on X on Sunday, Aug. 30.
Paxton’s campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy told PEOPLE the next day that the Texas attorney general “is proud of his successful career outside of public service, including running his own small business as a lawyer.” The campaign did not acknowledge Talarico’s critique nor answer questions about the watch.
Trump lobbed attacks at Talarico during two public appearances this week, calling him “Tala-freak-o” and “Tala-creep-o,” and boosted the baseless Republican attack line that the lifelong Texan doesn’t eat meat or is a vegan.
Talarico has repeatedly laughed off the claim. He has been photographed and filmed eating meat numerous times on the campaign trail.
“He’s terrible,” Trump said of Talarico during his Rose Garden remarks. “Now he says he loves meat. You know what he does? He eats meat and he goes outside and he throws up all over the place. Because in Texas, if you don’t eat meat, you’re in deep trouble. It’s not a good thing not to be able to eat meat.”
Talarico’s campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry from PEOPLE about the president’s attack on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Karl Rove — the architect of President George W. Bush’s political campaigns, including two Texas governor campaigns — said on Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade Show on Wednesday that Paxton’s campaign and Trump’s hopes of preserving the Senate’s Republican majority were running out of time.
“He was in Washington the week before the Fourth of July, on that weekend. No fundraiser that I can find,” Rove said of Paxton. “And then on Tuesday, he was seen leaving for Iceland with his latest girlfriend, and then the two of them spent the Fourth of July celebrating in London, England.”
“If he wanted to go to London, he should have gone to London, Texas,” Rove continued. “Time is running out. If the president wants to have Paxton win, he needs to be tossing a lot of money Paxton’s way.”
Link: https://people.com/trump-insults-ken-paxtons-looks-backhanded-senate-endorsement-12094567
“You might not love his look, you might not love his television interviews,” Trump said of the Texas Republican running in one of the country’s highest-stakes Senate races
By Joseph Konig Published on September 3, 2026 11:46AM EDT
PIC CAPTION: President Donald Trump speaks in the White House Rose Garden on Sept. 2; Texas AG Ken Paxton campaigns for Senate in San Antonio on Aug. 29.
Credit : Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty; Ken Paxton/Facebook
President Donald Trump repeatedly disparaged the fashion and speaking style of Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for Senate in a Texas race shaping up to be one of the most important of the 2026 midterms.
At multiple events on Wednesday, Sept. 2, Trump brought up “the way he dresses” unprompted and offered his endorsement to the Texas attorney general even though “some people don’t like the way he interviews or talks.”
“We’re going to go to Texas and work for Ken Paxton, who’s a great guy. I mean — so Ken Paxton, you might not like the way he dresses. And I say this, it’s so insulting to him, but I might as well say it,” Trump said at a gathering of Republican lawmakers in the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday evening. “You might not like the way he looks, you might not love his look, you might not love his television interviews, but he was the best attorney general in the country, perhaps.”
“And that speaks a lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great, or than anything, frankly. He was maybe the best attorney — and everybody admits it,” Trump added.
Paxton, 63, is in a tight race with Democratic nominee James Talarico, a 37-year-old state lawmaker who is leading by slim margins in public polls as he attempts to become the first Texas Democrat to win a statewide election since 1994.
Paxton’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from PEOPLE on Thursday, Sept. 3.
Trump endorsed Paxton in a contentious primary, helping him beat incumbent Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican who was first elected in 2002.
The president flew to Texas last week to attend a fundraiser for Paxton and pledged on Tuesday to return to Texas again to campaign for his ally in one of the Senate races that will decide which party controls Congress for the final two years of his term.
Despite his enthusiastic support for Paxton’s candidacy, the president had his mind on the longtime Texas attorney general’s style and “looks” multiple times this week.
“We have a guy named Ken Paxton, and some people don’t like the way he dresses,” Trump said at an earlier Oval Office gathering of travel industry executives. “Or some people don’t like the way he interviews or talks. But you know the one thing about him? He was the best attorney general in this country for the last 10 years or more, the most effective, the hardest working.”
“And so, I don’t care about an interview, and I don’t care about the way he dresses,” the president added.
Paxton’s fashion choices took heat from the Talarico campaign earlier in the week for photos he posted while campaigning in San Antonio over the weekend that featured him wearing what appeared to be $41,000 luxury gold watch and a purple shirt sporting the Four Seasons Orlando’s golf club logo.
“Nothing says you understand the affordability crisis like wearing a $41,000 watch and a Four Seasons polo,” Talarico wrote on X on Sunday, Aug. 30.
Paxton’s campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy told PEOPLE the next day that the Texas attorney general “is proud of his successful career outside of public service, including running his own small business as a lawyer.” The campaign did not acknowledge Talarico’s critique nor answer questions about the watch.
Trump lobbed attacks at Talarico during two public appearances this week, calling him “Tala-freak-o” and “Tala-creep-o,” and boosted the baseless Republican attack line that the lifelong Texan doesn’t eat meat or is a vegan.
Talarico has repeatedly laughed off the claim. He has been photographed and filmed eating meat numerous times on the campaign trail.
“He’s terrible,” Trump said of Talarico during his Rose Garden remarks. “Now he says he loves meat. You know what he does? He eats meat and he goes outside and he throws up all over the place. Because in Texas, if you don’t eat meat, you’re in deep trouble. It’s not a good thing not to be able to eat meat.”
Talarico’s campaign did not immediately respond to an inquiry from PEOPLE about the president’s attack on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Karl Rove — the architect of President George W. Bush’s political campaigns, including two Texas governor campaigns — said on Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade Show on Wednesday that Paxton’s campaign and Trump’s hopes of preserving the Senate’s Republican majority were running out of time.
“He was in Washington the week before the Fourth of July, on that weekend. No fundraiser that I can find,” Rove said of Paxton. “And then on Tuesday, he was seen leaving for Iceland with his latest girlfriend, and then the two of them spent the Fourth of July celebrating in London, England.”
“If he wanted to go to London, he should have gone to London, Texas,” Rove continued. “Time is running out. If the president wants to have Paxton win, he needs to be tossing a lot of money Paxton’s way.”
Link: https://people.com/trump-insults-ken-paxtons-looks-backhanded-senate-endorsement-12094567