A political ad airing nationally for GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton left viewers baffled Monday over a scene that appears to show the Texas attorney general tearing down a missing child flyer.
“Yeah I don’t think they thought this through,” quipped Conor Rogers, a D.C.-based Democratic strategist.
The ad was funded by Texas PAC, a Senate Republican leadership-backed super PAC that may spend as much as $200 million on behalf of Paxton in the lead-up to the midterms, with Paxton trailing behind his Democratic opponent, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, in recent polls.
Paxton’s record as attorney general is the focus of the ad, particularly his office’s efforts to combat child trafficking. A narrator is heard boasting about Paxton being “relentless about protecting Texas children” before the ad cuts to a shot of a missing child flyer.
“When missing posters go up, Ken Paxton takes them down,” the narrator explains, accompanied by a video of someone tearing down the missing child flyer.
Critics were left confused by the ad’s choice of words, including Gwen Howerton, a Houston-based writer and photographer.
“Finally, a guy who is willing to get tough on those missing kids,” Howerton sarcastically quipped.
Jody Dean, a veteran Texas broadcaster, said he “almost” felt “sorry” for Paxton’s campaign, adding, “Say it out loud to yourself a few times before you go with it, kids. You'll be glad you did.”
Texas trial attorney Israel Medina took a tongue-in-cheek jab at Paxton for his conduct as described in the ad.
“That p---- Ken Paxton pulls down missing persons posters!” Medina wrote in a social media post on X.
#TXSen: SLF affiliated group Texas PAC ran multiple spots nationally today during FOX's early window NFL coverage (Cowboys-Texans in every TX media market) --This spot ran during the second quarter of the Cowboys-Texans thriller https://t.co/k8tJjIXgYl
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