Trump campaigns for Paxton and attacks Talarico in Texas

President Donald Trump campaigned for Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton at a rally in Corpus Christi on October 27, urging Texans to elect him and criticizing Democratic opponent James Talarico. The event was part of Trump’s midterm campaign tour in Texas, where Paxton and Talarico are competing for an open Senate seat. Trump praised Paxton as the best attorney general in Texas history and said Republicans needed to retain the seat. He argued that losing it could quickly change the party’s legislative agenda. Paxton, who spoke before Trump, also urged supporters to vote and attacked Talarico’s policy positions. Paxton called Talarico the “most radical Democrat” to run in Texas and made claims about his positions on gender, oil and gas, and the Ten Commandments in schools. He also alleged that Talarico supported a state income tax and opposed border security legislation. Those statements were campaign claims; the descriptions of Talarico’s positions were not independently established in the rally coverage. Trump similarly portrayed Talarico as opposing guns, oil and meat while supporting transgender-related policies and open borders. He repeated those criticisms in a social...