Welker Confronts Ted Cruz About His GOP Colleague’s Fiery Criticism of Ken Paxton: Do You Agree ‘Paxton is Lazy?’

Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker confronted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) about the brutal criticism of GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

Right from the outset of the lengthy interview, Welker pressed Cruz about the comments from Cornyn — who made clear that he does not hold Paxton, the man who defeated him in the recent Texas Republican primary, in high regard.

“John Cornyn, who of course lost to Ken Paxton in a primary, who served 24 years in the Senate said this this week: quote, ‘Paxton’s a poor campaigner. He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. This is unfortunately shaping up to be a close and I hope not disastrous election. But it ain’t looking good right now.’ Do you agree with Senator Cornyn that Paxton is lazy and a poor campaigner?”

Cruz went to bat for Paxton.

“Well, listen, I think primaries can often be bitter,” Cruz said. “And then you often see hurt feelings. That’s part of the process. It’s also part of the process that when the primary is over, that you come together and you focus on the general election. At the end of the day, this is not about how any one particular person feels about any one particular candidate. This is about the people of Texas. This is about who will best represent 32 million Texans. And on that, I think the answer is very, very clear. Ken Paxton is a strong conservative who is going to fight for low taxes, low regulations, lots of jobs, to secure the border, to support law enforcement, to protect our constitutional rights. That’s what Texans want.”

But Welker pressed Cruz on Paxton’s various controversies.

“Senator Cruz, as you know, Ken Paxton does have his own political baggage including allegations of securities fraud, mortgage fraud, bribery,” Welker said. “Can Ken Paxton win without Cornyn’s support?

“Ken Paxton can most absolutely win,” Cruz said. “He’s been elected statewide over and over and over again. And Ken Paxton I think will win because he has a record. He’s supports policy positions that are consistent with the voters of Texas.”

Welker followed up once more.

“Senator, this is not the media saying these things though about Ken Paxton,” Welker said. “This is John Cornyn. Do you want to see John Cornyn out on the campaign trail with Ken Paxton? Do you think that’s the only way he can shore up those critical voters that he’s probably going to need to win the state?”

“Look, as I said, the primary is over,” Cruz replied. And at this point, I’m friends with both Ken and John. I understand the hurt feelings. That is human nature. I’m focused on the people of Texas. And I think the voters are going to be focused on the people of Texas.”

Watch above, via NBC.

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