Paxton on possible challenge to Cornyn: ‘Everything’s on the table for me’

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who was acquitted over the weekend in his historic impeachment trial in the state, took swipes at Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and kept the door open to a possible run for the senator’s seat in 2026, saying “everything’s on the table” at this point. 

“Why don’t you run against [Cornyn]?” host Tucker Carlson asked Paxton in an interview posted to X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Hey, look, everything’s on the table for me,” Paxton said. “Now that I’ve been through this and I’ve seen how guys like John Cornyn have represented the state of Texas and not represented us, I think it’s time somebody needs to step up and run against this guy that will do the job and do it the right way.”

The wide-ranging interview with Carlson — the release of which was delayed roughly three hours Wednesday night due to technical difficulties, Paxton said — was the embattled attorney general’s first sit-down interview since a jury of state senators voted to acquit him over the weekend. 

The Texas House voted to impeach Paxton in May, and the Texas Senate voted to clear him on 16 articles of impeachment related to allegations that he misused the powers of his office to aid a friend and campaign donor. 

Paxton, who had been suspended from office since the impeachment vote, immediately returned to work. 

In the interview, Paxton blamed the Biden administration and the GOP-led House for his impeachment, and knocked Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) as “controlled by the Democrats.”

He also argued that Cornyn has “been in Washington too long” and said the senator has “never really had competition.” 

“He’s worked for what, 14 years or so? And I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country, let alone the fact that we have a massive invasion into our state,” Paxton said of Cornyn, adding he’s been “vacant” on immigration and border security.

Cornyn — a former Texas attorney general — was first elected to the Senate in 2002 and is next up for reelection in 2026.