Fox host puts Trump on blast for $500 million gamble

Fox News host Trey Gowdy has had some choice words for President Donald Trump over his decision to back Ken Paxton over the incumbent, Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Trump’s backing of the scandal-plagued Paxton has drawn criticism after a spending spree of half a billion dollars failed to close the gap with his Democratic opponent in most polls.

Gowdy, who hosts Sunday Night in America on Fox, said his piece on Monday’s Special Report with Bret Baier. A new poll from The New York Times and Siena College puts 37-year-old Democrat James Talarico 7 points up on Paxton, at 50 percent to 43 percent, as Texans head to the polls.

“I was laying in bed the other night wondering how do I blow $500 million?” asked the former Republican congressman and ex-chair of the House Oversight Committee.

He noted that Cornyn had voted with Trump 99.3 percent of the time, so it was an extraordinary amount of money for the GOP to put out to replace a senator of such loyalty. The money spent on Paxton could have been better used in some of the more competitive Senate races, he contended.

That money “could have gone to South Carolina, could have gone to Maine, could have gone to Nebraska, Kansas,” said Gowdy. “But they’re trying to drag Ken Paxton over the finish line when all you had to do was nominate John Cornyn.”

On whether Paxton will come out on top, Gowdy told Baier he doubts Talarico will win, but the party has made it a good deal harder by going with Paxton. Trump, 80, endorsed the Texas attorney general in the May runoff even though party officials warned of Paxton’s political liabilities. Cornyn had finished first in the three-way primary only to be beaten in the runoff once Trump got involved.

The campaign has been eye-wateringly costly. AdImpact figures put spending at $544.5 million through Nov. 1, making it the priciest Senate race on record, per CBS News Texas. A fundraising memo leaked in October showed Paxton’s finances were in trouble; despite the backing of outside groups and GOP donors, his side could not keep pace with Talarico’s ad operation.

Paxton has had his fair share of scandals. In 2023, the Republican-run Texas House impeached him over corruption allegations before the state Senate acquitted him, and his wife has accused him of adultery in divorce proceedings. He has drawn criticism for his expanding wealth while in office and his penchant for world travel on the taxpayer’s dime.

In the last days of the contest, the signs of a Paxton loss have mounted, but some polls have the race tighter. FiftyPlusOne’s polling average gives Talarico a 4-point lead. An AtlasIntel poll of more than 1,600 Texas adults, conducted Oct. 28 to Nov. 1 with a 2.2-point margin of error, found 51.3 percent for Talarico and 45.4 percent for Paxton.