The Republican Party compiled the scandal list themselves. Then deleted it when he won.
Within hours of Ken Paxton defeating John Cornyn in Tuesday’s Texas Senate primary, the National Republican Senatorial Committee quietly deleted at least nine press releases and digital ads attacking him. Gone. The NRSC’s own communications director had called Paxton’s treatment of his wife “truly repulsive and disgusting.” Gone. A statement declaring “Ken Paxton’s betrayals of the public trust just keep coming” — gone. All of it now returns a 404 error. The Internet Archive caught them. The receipts still exist.
This is the MAGA standard in full display. Not the candidate. The party.
Ken Paxton and Donald Trump share a résumé so identical it reads like a template. Both impeached — Trump twice by the House, Paxton by the Republican-led Texas House 121 to 23 on charges of bribery, abuse of office, and obstruction. Both acquitted by their respective senates. Both indicted on felony charges. Both credibly accused of adultery while married. Paxton’s wife Angela filed for divorce in July 2025 citing adultery on biblical grounds. Paxton used his office to benefit a wealthy donor — and allegedly recommended that donor hire the woman he was having an affair with. Both retaliated against the people who reported them. Both endorsed by a movement that calls itself the party of faith, family, and law and order.
Trump didn’t just endorse Paxton. He built him. The MAGA movement has a type and Paxton is a perfect specimen — impeached, indicted, shameless, and teflon. The base doesn’t see the scandals as disqualifying. They see them as proof that the establishment is afraid of him. The formula works every time.
The Republican Party knew exactly what Ken Paxton was. They wrote it down. They published it. Then the moment he won they buried it and pivoted to electing him.
The party didn’t change its standards. It deleted them.