Ken Paxton Won’t Discuss His Marriage With Thousands Of Strangers. He’ll Just Regulate Yours.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton held a tele–town hall this week as part of his Senate campaign, and one caller decided to skip the small talk. “Hi Paxton, nice to meet you,” she began, sweetly. “I’m just wondering — why did you cheat on your wife?”

Honestly? Same.

Here’s what passes for an answer from a sitting attorney general:

Um, I’m not gonna talk about personal issues that relate to my family, just like I don’t think you would wanna discuss your marriage on a call with thousands of people. All I can tell you is that I’m proud of my kids. I’ve got four wonderful kids. I’ve got seven grandchildren — well, six and one on the way. There’s a lot at stake, and so while I care about this country, I’m not gonna talk about things that would affect them, so thank you very much for your question.

And look, on the narrow point, he isn’t wrong. Whether and why Paxton cheated is a matter between him and Angela Paxton, the wife who filed for divorce on “biblical grounds” and then couldn’t be bothered to endorse his Senate run. In a vacuum, a candidate’s marriage is nobody’s business.

But Ken Paxton has spent his entire career making other people’s private lives very much his business. This is the attorney general who declared gender-affirming care for trans kids a form of child abuse, who has gone to the mat to police what Texans can do with their own bodies and their own families. The man who set up a tip line so Texans could snitch on their neighbors for suspected voter fraud has suddenly developed a deep and abiding respect for privacy… now that the neighbor in question is him.

So no, Ken, most of us wouldn’t want to litigate our marriages in front of thousands of strangers either… but then, most of us aren’t running to write the rules for everybody else’s.

Listen to the call here.

Earlier: Ken Paxton Won His Senate Primary And His (Estranged) Wife Couldn’t Be Bothered To Endorse Him
Ken Paxton Can’t Even Get His Own Lawyer’s Vote
Ken Paxton Wants Texans To Snitch On Illegal Voters. A New Report Suggests He Should Check The Mirror.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1