Texas Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton was pressed on Fox News over whether he will debate Democratic rival James Talarico, after President Donald Trump publicly called on the two candidates to face off.
The question came after Trump weighed in on the increasingly heated Texas Senate race, declaring that Talarico should “immediately report to a Debate Stage against Paxton.” Trump described Paxton as “ready, willing, and able.”
Appearing on “The Big Weekend,” Paxton was asked by co-host Johnny “Joey” Jones whether a debate was now in the works. Paxton said his campaign had been trying to set one up for months.
“Well, now look, we’ve been looking on that for months with him and, of course, and we can never quite work out the details because he always wants something we can’t do,” Paxton said.
Paxton then turned the focus to Talarico’s recent absence from the campaign trail while he was recovering from the flu.
“So, the reality is the big story is he was missing from the campaign trail, and I know he’d love to change the topic in debates, but the big story is two weeks is long time to be away with the flu and is just a very strange time to disappear,” Paxton said.
The Talarico campaign quickly fired back after the clip began circulating, disputing Paxton’s version of events.
Campaign spokesperson JT Ennis shared the Fox News clip on X and accused Paxton of “lying” about the debate negotiations. Ennis claimed the Republican had “ignored every single attempt” to arrange a debate, “including a personal call to his cellphone.”
Talarico also responded directly on X.
“Here are the details: literally any time, any place, any network,” Talarico wrote.
Some outlets covering the race have reported that Talarico has been publicly pushing for debates while Paxton has yet to agree to one.
The Texas Tribune reported that Talarico had accepted at least four debate invitations. Among them was a proposed Fox News debate moderated by Bret Baier, which the network agreed to host.
The Washington Post similarly reported that Paxton had either turned down debate invitations or failed to respond to them, while Talarico had already agreed to multiple forums.
The back-and-forth highlights the growing tension in one of the most closely watched races in the country, with the president’s involvement adding fresh pressure on both candidates to settle the debate question.
Paxton, for his part, has insisted that the holdup comes down to details that could not be worked out, saying Talarico “always wants something we can’t do.” He has also sought to keep attention on Talarico’s two-week absence from the campaign trail, calling it “a very strange time to disappear.”
The Talarico campaign, meanwhile, has rejected that characterization outright, arguing that its candidate is willing to debate under any terms and that it is Paxton who has avoided the matchup.
With the president calling for the two to meet on the debate stage and both campaigns trading accusations, the question of whether Texas voters will see Paxton and Talarico face off remains unresolved.
