Ken Paxton’s message to voters in the home stretch of his closely-contested US Senate race with Democrat James Talarico is a mystery to me.
asserted
message → contest → me
I don’t mean that I don’t understand it—I mean I don’t know what it is, because before I could listen to his remarks at the launch of the “Come and Take It” bus tour in Rockwall, Texas, on Saturday morning, I was kicked out of the event and escorted to my car by a police officer.
uncertain
I → mean → officer
The scandal-plagued Texas attorney general is hitting the road in the run-up to Election Day, as he works to avoid becoming the first member of his party to lose a statewide election here in 32 years.
asserted
he → plague → years
It has not been easy going.
asserted
It → go → ?
In addition to a 747’s worth of baggage—including an indictment he eventually resolved by agreeing to take a remedial legal education course; impeachment by members of his own party; a biblical divorce; and, most recently, a cell-phone video showing him spending New Year’s Eve in Dubai with two fugitives and a woman who’s not his wife—Paxton’s skill set as a politician seems uniquely unsuited to the current electoral environment.
asserted
set → include → environment
He has spent the last 12 years as a blunt object for whom the answer to every problem is a lawsuit or an investigation.
asserted
answer → spend → problem
How would the king of conservative lawfare adapt to an election defined by tariffs and the Iran war?
asserted
king → adapt → tariffs
What would it look like for Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr., of all people, to pivot to affordability?
asserted
Jr. → look → affordability
These were the questions that had brought me to an airplane hangar in the small city of Rockwall, about 20 minutes east of Dallas.
asserted
that → bring → Dallas
My problems began, I think, when I started filming the breakfast buffet.
asserted
I → begin → buffet
I’m supposed to be putting together a little video diary of my reporting trip to Texas, and have been dutifully gathering bits of B-roll from the events I attend.
asserted
I → suppose → events
It probably wasn’t necessary to film a coffee pot for 15 seconds.
asserted
It → film → seconds
But I’m still learning.
asserted
I → learn → ?
After gathering some valuable tape of a Donald Trump cardboard cutout and a cluttered utility shelf, I settled in to wait for Paxton.
asserted
I → gather → Paxton
That’s when I was approached by a man working security for the campaign, who pulled me aside to tell me he’d noticed I’d been filming “everything.”
asserted
I → ’ → everything
I identified myself as a reporter and handed him my business card.
asserted
I → identify → card
I had not gone through the process of applying for press credentials, but I did have a ticket for the event, which anyone could obtain on Eventbrite.
uncertain
anyone → go → Eventbrite
But instead of asking me to simply sign in, or to observe a few specific ground rules (at Talarico’s rally in San Marcos on Thursday, for instance, cameras were banned within a certain zone because his campaign was filming an ad), he warned me about what would happen if I had an “outburst” during the event.
asserted
I → ask → event
I explained that I was a professional journalist and that’s not a thing we do, but he was insistent: no “outbursts.”
asserted
he → explain → outbursts
If I had an “outburst,” I would be escorted out, and then handed over to the police, “And then we have a whole separate problem.”
asserted
we → have → problem
He seemed quite worried I would disrupt the event—something I have never done, and in fact cannot recall any other journalist doing at any other event, with the sole exception of the guy who threw his shoes at George W. Bush; I guess he also had a beard.
asserted
he → seem → beard
Eventually, someone else from the campaign, in a blue vest, came over.
asserted
someone → come → vest
I identified myself again, reiterated that I was not here for “outbursts,” and said that, while I had not applied for one in advance, I would love to get a press badge.
asserted
I → identify → badge
The blue-vest guy told me to hang tight while he got me one, but a little while later, the first man came back, summoned a police officer, and nudged me out the door with a hand on my back.
asserted
man → tell → back
“We’ve looked up your credentials,” he said.
asserted
he → look → credentials
“We’re asking you to leave.”
asserted
We → ask → you
I reached out to the Paxton campaign to clarify what happened.
asserted
what → reach → campaign
An anonymous spokesperson responded that I had “failed to follow the publicly advised standard operating procedure for media who are covering events hosted by the campaign… circumvented the proper process to register for a press credential, entered the event, and then refused to register when asked.
asserted
who → respond → event
I’ll admit to not filling out a form ahead of time.
asserted
I → admit → time
I’m so used to having my requests for press credentials rejected at Republican events (I have not been approved for a Trump campaign rally since 2016) that I sometimes just RSVP for events that are open to the public like, well, a member of the public.
asserted
that → ’m → public
It mostly means that I can’t lug a bunch of equipment, skip the line, or use the Wi-Fi; I’ve never had an issue hanging out in the crowd like everyone else.
asserted
I → mean → everyone
(In fact I prefer to hang out with everyone else and experience the event as they do; in 2024, we even did an interview on Reveal with the woman I sat in front of at a JD Vance rally.)
asserted
I → prefer → rally
But the last part of that statement is flatly false—I asked if I could register.
uncertain
I → ask → statement
They decided that not only could I not, but that I could not attend an event as a ticket-holding member of the public either.
uncertain
I → decide → public
If I couldn’t hear Paxton inside, I still got a glimpse of what he was up against on my way to the event.
asserted
he → hear → event
At the intersection leading up to the entrance, a middle-aged man stood in front of a half dozen or so Republican yard signs, holding a custom-printed one of his own.
asserted
man → lead → own
It said “Ken Paxton” in big letters, but below it were the words “protects pedophiles”—a reference to a case in which Paxton’s office initially struck a deal with a man accused of sexually abusing a child that allowed him to serve just one day in jail and not register as a sex offender in Texas.
asserted
him → say → Texas
Paxton’s campaign has said the AG’s office made the deal because the victim did not want to testify and accused Talarico of “re-traumatizing” the victim.
asserted
victim → say → victim
(The man eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and displaying harmful materials to a minor and eventually served 29 days.)
asserted
man → plead → days
Sign guy clapped every time a car went by in the direction of the rally; he seemed to be enjoying himself.
asserted
he → clap → himself
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
