When Democratic nominee James Talarico stopped holding campaign events in the Texas Senate race, his Republican opponent Ken Paxton saw an opening to pounce.
“Where is James Talarico?” he called out Wednesday during a rally with Donald Trump in San Antonio.
But that night, while flying back to Washington on Air Force One, Trump seemed to inadvertently throw Talarico a lifeline. The president said on social media that Talarico — who has the flu, according to his campaign — “should immediately report to a Debate Stage” to face off with Paxton.
It was exactly what Talarico wanted to hear, since he had long been badgering Paxton for a debate.
I don’t think that’s true. If Talarico makes the case that Paxton and Trump are the kind of people Jesus would have whipped out of the temple, which is a pretty succinct summary of his whole campaign imo, then there are definitely people in Texas who would care about that. That simple fact is the entire reason Paxton has categorically refused a debate thus far. It’s also the reason Talarico’s interview with Kimmel aired on YouTube instead of NBC (or whatever dumb network Kimmel’s show is on).