Former President Donald Trump defended embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over the weekend, decrying Paxton’s recent impeachment as “ELECTION INTERFRENCE.”
Paxton was suspended from office after the GOP-controlled Texas state House impeached him on Saturday on charges including bribery and abuse of public trust. His trial before the state Senate will begin no later than Aug. 28.
Paxton quickly endorsed Trump when the former president launched his run for the White House back in November, and he backed Trump in 2016. Paxton also led the failed legal attempt to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in four battleground states).
Trump returned the favor last year, backing Paxton in a hotly contested primary race against Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the nephew and grandson of the two former presidents.
Paxton went on to win the primary runoff by 36 percentage points despite being under indictment for securities fraud charges and facing an ongoing FBI investigation over allegations that he abused his office. Paxton has denied any wrongdoing.
But over the weekend, an overwhelming majority of state House Republicans — 60 of the 85 GOP members, including state House Speaker Dade Phelan — voted to impeach Paxton.
Trump accused Phelan of being a “RINO,” or “Republican in Name Only,” and called on other Republicans to stop the impeachment proceedings before they voted on Saturday.
“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 on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
“It is the Radical Left Democrats, RINOS, and Criminals that never stop,” Trump added. “ELECTION INTERFERENCE! Free Ken Paxton, let them wait for the next election!”
