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Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton was given an opportunity to address two major scandals that stand to derail his chances against Democrat James Talarico in November. Instead of acknowledging them, he ended the press conference and left the room. “General, I wanted to give you a chance to respond to state Representative Talarico and his campaign,” a reporter asked Paxton while flanked by over a dozen law officers in cowboy hats during a Tuesday press conference. “They’ve made a lot about the reports that have come out, one in The New York Times about you acquiring properties worth—” “So Jack, can we keep this to law enforcement today?” Paxton interrupted. “Well, I’m giving you the opportunity to answer the question.” “We’re here with the sheriffs, I’d like to keep today to law enforcement, so that’s what I’m gonna answer, questions about law enforcement,” Paxton replied. Paxton was then pressed on a separate scandal just seconds after. “Will you answer a question about why you voted in Collin County? Clear that up?” the reporter asked, only to be shut down by a staffer immediately while Paxton began to leave, looking visibly uncomfortable. Wow -- Ken Paxton and his team abruptly shut down a news conference and bail after journalists try to ask him about his various scandals pic.twitter.com/GlXJ7ClLKD— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 21, 2026Paxton refused to answer the questions even as he spoke at a podium with Talarico’s face plastered on it, alongside the caption “Talarico: Handcuffed to his record.” A Times report last week detailed how Paxton—who has been Texas attorney general since 2015—has acquired 15 properties worth $9 million in states like Utah, Hawaii, Florida, and Oklahoma, all on a government salary while in the midst of both a Senate run and a divorce. Another ProPublica report from earlier this month found that Paxton, who has echoed Trump’s concern with voter fraud, voted using an address he didn’t reside at in six elections in two years. Paxton didn’t really address those allegations at the time of those reports, and he certainly didn’t do so on Tuesday.

The recent round of strikes has killed dozens in Iran and destroyed key civilian infrastructure.

President Donald Trump’s advisers aren’t so sure that another round of tariffs is a good idea. According to a report Tuesday by the Financial Times, Trump is preparing to let loose a “barrage” of fresh tariffs on dozens of countries this week, just before his temporary 10 percent global tariff expires on Friday. More tariffs, on top of energy prices already skyrocketing in response to the Iran war, risk “inflaming voter frustration over the high cost of living,” the Times reports.Trump’s seemingly endless tariff campaign is unpopular with voters across the political spectrum. A new Washington Post-Ipsos poll puts Trump’s overall approval rating at just 37 percent, dragged down by his handling of the economy and the war in Iran. Two-thirds of Americans now disapprove of how Trump is handling affordability. Republicans, staring down the fast-approaching midterm elections in November, are shaking in their boots. Trump, on the other hand, either hasn’t noticed or doesn’t care—just Monday, he announced new 50 percent tariffs against Canada. These tariffs are potentially retaliation for the wildfire smoke that drifted across America’s northern border last week.“We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein,” the president wrote on Truth Social Friday. “This is Willful Negligence … which cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.” A senior administration official has since denied any relation between the wildfires and the new tariffs.Even if Trump can’t see it, White House insiders know that another round of tariffs is a bad look. “Behind the scenes, senior officials have been counseling the president to maintain stability with trading partners and honor the deals that Washington struck with them to reduce their tariffs … according to two people familiar with the matter,” the Financial Times reports.“If candidates are not talking about the economy, if candidates are not talking about affordability, if they’re not talking about how they’re going to make people’s lives at home cheaper and less expensive, then they’re not talking about the issues that voters care about,” Paul Shumaker, a veteran Republican strategist told The Washington Post Monday. Republicans know that resurrecting Trump’s trade war, not only with Canada but with the rest of the world, is a recipe for disaster. The question is: Do they have the guts to stop it?

The Texas Republican told Semafor he would not support action on two ambassadorial picks without movement on the AIDS-fighting program for Africa.

Right-wing, Islamophobic conspiracy theorist and commentator Laura Loomer is on a P.R. tour of Ukraine in a complete departure from her historically pro-Russian, anti-Ukranian rhetoric.Loomer touched down in Ukraine on Monday, posting herself eating McDonald’s near a destroyed building and heaping praise and defense on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.Loomer acknowledged that she previously fell for Russian propaganda. In another post on X Monday, she wrote:I did say these things about Ukraine and Zelensky and I am not deleting my posts because I’ve realized, I was wrong. I was living in a media echo chamber and I was propagandized by Russian media on social media to believe those things. So I came to Ukraine to see the country for myself. I am going to try to find evidence for the propaganda I’ve been fed, and if I don’t find it, I will let everyone know so they too can come to see the light. On day one, I’ve already seen photos of dead priests in Bucha murdered by Russia and I saw the mass grave where the bodies of murdered Christians were placed after Russia sent forces from Chechnya to massacre innocent people. I spoke with officials who rescue POWs and they showed me photos of Ukrainian POWs who had swastikas engraved into their forehead by Russians. She noted that she had been lied to about who the real Nazis were. (There are real Nazis everywhere, including in Ukraine, for what it’s worth.)“Just experienced my first air raid in Ukraine. Sirens blaring. This is everyday for every Ukrainian,” Loomer said in another post Tuesday. “I feel like such an asshole for minimizing the struggle of Ukrainians for the last 5 years. I often said I don’t care. Looking back, that wasn’t very nice of me to say. There are people in Ukraine who have to run to a bomb shelter everyday and some of us had the audacity to say Russia wasn’t wrong because we believed the lie that Ukraine is a country full of Nazi sympathizers. We have been so propagandized by Russia and we don’t even realize it.”Zelenskiy welcomed Loomer’s visit. “It is really important that [LauraLoomer] is in Ukraine and sees things with her own eyes as they are,” his office wrote on X. “There is no better way to get informed opinion than through personal experience which allows to deal with Russian propaganda.”This is a radical departure for Loomer, who has spent years attacking Ukraine, and even wrote a few columns for the Kremlin-sponsored Russia Today.“Zelensky shaking hands with an Islamic terrorist who has murderer US soldiers is another reason to have disdain for [Zelenskiy]. I don’t want any more of my tax dollars going to Ukraine. Ukraine is a country full of Nazi apologists and now it’s clearly a country led by a Jihadi apologist,” Loomer said in a post last year following Zelenskiy’s meeting with Syrian President Ahmed Al Sharaa, whom she referred to by his nom de guerre, Julani. “Julani is a cold blooded killer. He was wanted by the US for $10 million up until May. He’s a very bad guy who wants a global Islamic caliphate. This is going to backfire spectacularly on everyone who is shaking hands with Julani.”In another post from 2023, Loomer accused former President Joe Biden of “funding Nazi death squads in Ukraine with US taxpayer dollars.”“Look forward to your balanced coverage from ‘Kyiv,’” RT editor in chief Margarita Simonyan wrote Monday. “To Ms Loomer’s credit, we did enjoy her columns for RT back in the day.”It’s unclear why Loomer has changed her tune so suddenly, but as an influencer who unfortunately has a direct line of communication to Trump, this may have wider ramifications.

In the report, officials condemn the dissidence of left-wing figures like Hasan Piker and Zohran Mamdani.