Ken Paxton, the GOP’s Texas Senate nominee, did not acknowledge Democratic rival James Talarico’s proposal to hold a debate on Fox News — the Republican’s presumed territory.
TMZ asked the Texas attorney general on Tuesday if he wants to debate the state representative. Mr. Paxton shook his head and frowned, saying, “Look, if the terms were right, I’d have no problem with it.”
His terms, he explained, include not ending up with a CNN moderator.
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Mr. Talarico has offered Mr. Paxton opportunities to debate and accepted multiple debate invitations from local TV stations and a proposed showdown on Fox News — telling Mr. Paxton, the “ball’s in your court.”
President Trump has said twice that Mr. Paxton is “ready, willing and able” to debate his opponent.
“That’s always true,” Mr. Paxton said Tuesday.
Mr. Talarico refuted the attorney general’s debate-ready assertion.
“Ken Paxton has refused to debate and that’s pretty Low-T behavior in my book,” he told TMZ. “I think y’all at TMZ got to talk with Ken Paxton earlier about his refusal to debate, and he said something about not wanting to do it on CNN, but I actually challenged him to do it on Fox News.”
Mr. Talarico has publicly called on the Republican nominee to debate, saying in an Oct. 8 statement that Mr. Paxton has “refused to respond to Talarico’s challenges.”
Campaigns are in the final stretch ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections that could determine whether Democrats take majority control from Republicans.
At the end of September, Mr. Talarico announced that Fox News agreed to host a debate between the two.
Mr. Talarico pinned the decision on his opponent: “They’re just waiting on Paxton to agree. Ball’s in your court @KenPaxtonTX.”
The Democrat said he called Mr. Paxton to invite him to a debate on Fox News on Sept. 25, extending his offer to include the outlet’s anchor, Bret Baier.
The Washington Times had reached out to Mr. Paxton’s campaign for comment.
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