'Cleanup': Republicans caught deleting attack ads against Trump’s Texas pick

In recent months, the GOP has been divided over the Texas Senate primaries, which pitted the party-backed incumbent Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who ran under the endorsement of President Donald Trump. While Republicans pushed back against Trump’s efforts, arguing that the widely embraced moderate Cornyn was better positioned for the consequential midterm general election, MAGA-oriented Paxton prevailed. Now, reports NOTUS, the Senate GOP’s campaign team has begun deleting materials attacking Paxton from its website as it gears up to help elect the man it opposed. “Each page critical of Paxton returned a 404 error on the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s website Wednesday morning,” NOTUS detailed. “The NRSC’s site appears functional otherwise, with a statement posted Wednesday morning attacking Paxton’s Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico.”This about-face comes after a costly battle, with the NRSC spending millions toward a Cornyn win. Removed materials span a year of opposition research and include statements regarding Paxton’s alleged affairs and financial misdeeds.“Among the deleted NRSC pages,” reports NOTUS, “was a statement from July 2025 in which NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez called Paxton’s conduct toward his wife ‘truly repulsive and disgusting’ after Angela Paxton filed for divorce on what she described as ‘biblical grounds,’ alleging adultery. A second deleted statement from later that month attacked Paxton over an Associated Press investigation that found that he and his estranged wife had listed three properties as their primary residences, allowing them to improperly lock in lower mortgage interest rates.”“A lot of people who trust Ken Paxton get lied to, so it isn’t shocking to learn he is also cheating on his taxes and personal finances,” wrote Rodriguez at the time. “Ken Paxton’s betrayals of the public trust just keep coming.”Other deleted pages include “an August 2025 digital ad titled ‘Cornyn Fights — Paxton Folds’; a September 2025 release calling Paxton’s personal attorney a ‘deranged Trump-hater,’ ads attacking Paxton for directing taxpayer-funded grants to groups providing ‘gender-affirming’ resources to children and a piece from April amplifying a Daily Caller report on Paxton’s Democratic-linked donor money.”Now, with polls showing he is currently tied with Talarico, Republicans who once vocally fought against Paxton are in his corner. As NOTUS explains, “The cleanup reflects the uncomfortable position Senate Republicans now occupy. Throughout the primary, Cornyn and his allies argued that Paxton’s scandals — including an indictment and an impeachment — and weak fundraising would force the GOP to potentially spend over $100 million in Texas — money Republican leaders would rather deploy to swing states like Georgia, Ohio and North Carolina.”At the same time, Talarico has been raking in record high donations, particularly after his interview with Stephen Colbert was barred from airing on television by Trump’s FCC chief, prompting millions to watch the talk online and donate to the Democrat’s war chest.