The extraordinary events surrounding the impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could be a sign the pull former President Donald Trump had over the grassroots of the Republican Party is beginning to dissipate, according to three GOP operatives.
Trump’s recent attempt to sway Texas Republicans embattled in a historic fight to impeach the third-term GOP attorney general is proving to be ineffective.
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“The presidential primary’s impact is at play in the Paxton impeachment case,” the first political consultant said. “What we’re seeing is not only a test of the Texas House and Senate but very well could be an early sign of Trump’s weakening grip over legislative officials.”
A second Texas GOP operative said Trump’s opinion “is not as strong as it would have been two years ago or three years ago because it’s politically — he’s just not quite where he was back then.”
Trump spoke out on his Truth Social platform last week after the GOP-controlled Texas House voted overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton on a slew of offenses and demanded the red state cease its attacks on the embattled attorney general.
“I love Texas, won it twice in landslides, and watched as many other friends, including Ken Paxton, came along with me. Hopefully Republicans in the Texas House will agree that this is a very unfair process that should not be allowed to happen or proceed—I will fight you if it does, Trump wrote in a post. “It is the Radical Left Democrats, RINOS, and Criminals that never stop. ELECTION INTERFERENCE! Free Ken Paxton, let them wait for the next election!”
Paxton was impeached by the state House last Saturday following the House Committee on General Investigating’s unanimous decision to file 20 articles of impeachment. The Texas House is controlled by Republicans by an 86-64 margin. Most abandoned their fellow Republicans in a vote of 121-23.
During Paxton’s previous campaigns, Trump’s endorsement had played a “huge role” in boosting candidate support, the first person said. Speaking out against a Trump-endorsed candidate previously would only lead to retribution.
But with other Republicans jumping into the presidential primary, Trump’s opinion has less sway.
“Now, the question becomes how much does Trump’s support matter when we’re looking at a complex Republican primary,” the first person said. “It’s much easier for the members to vote their conscience when there’s another contender in the field.”
In the House impeachment vote, this was nowhere more evident than in how the Freedom Caucus members did not unanimously vote to defend Paxton.
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“Two to three years ago, many of those same members who voted in favor of impeachment wouldn’t have dreamed of voting against a Trump directive,” the first person said.
A third GOP operative wrote in a text message to the Washington Examiner on Friday that “the State House vote to impeach Ken Paxton is far more a reflection of animus between the AG and State House leaders than about President Trump weighing in on the matter.”
