Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been humiliated over Donald Trump’s latest cash bribe—while appearing live on the president’s favorite network.
During Wednesday’s GOP convention in Dallas on Wednesday, Trump, 80, promised to give $5,000 to every American adult if Republicans win the midterm elections in November.
At the time, the president did not offer any details on how his plan would work, if it had been approved by Congress or where the money would come from. He later told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that he didn’t think he needed congressional approval “because we’ve made so much money.”
Calculating the number of adult Americans, Trump’s promise could cost around $1.35 trillion, plunging the country into further debt.
Paxton, 63, appeared on Fox News on Thursday, speaking live from the second and final day of the convention in Dallas. Host Bret Baier asked him about his reaction to what the president called his “Trump dividend.”
“I clapped,” Paxton said of his response to the plan. “I clapped because, look, the government takes too much of our money. People are hurting. This is a way to help people with higher gas prices, higher energy costs, and higher food prices.”
He added, “They said the deficit will go up, but when you deliver money back to people they spend it, and create more tax revenue.”
Baier then confronted Paxton with a statement from his own website and read it aloud. “Ken Paxton is a strong fiscal conservative who will fight to cut taxes and stop the wasteful spending that has led to our nation being in over $36 trillion dollars in debt.”
Baier paused, noted the debt is “more now,” then continued reading the messaging from Paxton’s site, which said that after “skyrocketing inflation” under former President Joe Biden, he “will help bring down costs.”
The Fox host told Paxton that Trump’s $5,000 cash splash would increase the U.S. deficit and debt and would “really spike inflation,” contradicting the promise on his website.
“So you saw what was on my website, I said I want to cut taxes and cut the deficit,” Paxton said.
He added, “So I want to stop the spending, but I want to start returning more of what you earn to the taxpayers so that they can afford to live. Right now, the government is taking too high a percentage for most of my constituents, and certainly most of the country. ”
The Fox host did not press Paxton any further. It follows Baier asking Vice President JD Vance to justify the promise on Wednesday, shortly after Trump made it. Vance claimed, “I don’t think it’s a controversial idea.”
During his Thursday interview with Paxtion, Baier confronted him another time, raising the list of “legal troubles” the Republican has faced in the past.
Fox News listed the accusations across three individual graphics on-screen, including Paxton’s indictment on securities fraud charges in 2015–the charges were dropped in a pretrial agreement in 2024–and federal fraud charges in 2016, which were dismissed the following year.
He was also accused by seven staff members of accepting bribes and abusing the power of office in 2020 and was impeached by the Republican Texas House in 2023 over claims of misusing his power to aid his friends and donors.
Paxton was acquitted of all 16 impeachment articles in 2023, and last year, he was ordered to pay four former employees over $6 million for violating the Texas whistleblower act.
Paxton has consistently denied all wrongdoing and maintained his innocence.
“It’s a long list here,” Baier said to Paxton. “As you look at that and you talk to voters who may be concerned about this, what do you say?”
Paxton said, “Well look, when you’re fighting they come after you,” before comparing himself to Trump, who has strongly endorsed him in his fight against Talarico.
“He had many more indictments than I did,” Paxton said of Trump. “He had two impeachments. I went through a very similar process as him. When you go after things that protect the people of your state, they come after you, and none of those things were proven. They all, if you’ll notice, they’re all dismissed, or they’re gone.”
