BKen Paxton's Senate run just got personal, and not in a way he can spin.
BOh, what now?
BA Texas voter named Brad posted a fact-check thread on him, and the first item is brutal: his wife of thirty-eight years filed for divorce last July, citing adultery.
BThirty-eight years. That's the whole adult life.
BAnd the court papers say they hadn't lived together since June 2024. This is all documented from his 2023 impeachment.
BPaxton's running as the family values candidate? After that?
BThat's exactly the point Brad's making. He calls him anti-family values, anti-law and order.
BWell, when your own wife files on biblical grounds, the ads write themselves.
BThe thing is, Paxton survived impeachment. Texas Republicans stuck with him. But a primary against a well-funded challenger is different.
BDifferent how? He's won statewide three times. Voters knew about the affairs then.
BThey knew rumors. Now it's a court filing from his wife. That lands different.
BMaybe. But Texas has forgiven worse from politicians who deliver. Paxton's base sees him as a fighter against the feds.
BThere's a limit. When the family values guy can't keep his own family, it's not nothing.
BFair. But I'll wait for a poll before calling it fatal.
BSpeaking of posts that make you sit up... one is going around about Don Lemon.
BThe 'jury ordered him to pay 17 million to church parishioners' story?
BThat one. Someone on X actually asked Grok if it was true, and Grok came back: no record of it. No lawsuit, no jury, no 500 thousand per parishioner.
BI'll say this for AI fact-checks: when they work, they kill a rumor fast.
BAnd this rumor was designed to spread. Fake legal news about a former anchor, 34 victims, dollar amounts. All invented.
BIt's a good reminder. The most satisfying stories to share are often the ones someone made up to make you share them.
BAnd the account that posted it got one reply with the fact-check, and that's all it took.
BThirty seconds of checking beats a thousand angry reposts.
BNow a post that's just strange. Court records, if true, involve Amy Acton.
BOhio's former health director, the face of COVID lockdowns there.
BAn account posted that her stepfather was indicted in 1978 for raping her when she was twelve, and then fled the state.
BWe have to be careful with that one. The post links to some court records, but this is exactly the kind of thing that turns out to be a different person or a forged document.
BAnd even if true, it's a private family trauma, not a political issue.
BExactly. Acton's public record is fair game. This is something else entirely.
BSo we'll leave that one where it is: unverified, and not something to build a segment around.
BNow, completely different world: a London post claiming Met Police are protecting pedophiles.
BThat's a serious accusation, and it's a Bluesky post with no sourcing, no names, no investigation.
BRight. It's the kind of thing that, if there's a specific case, needs to come from a named outlet or official source.
BWithout that, it's just an inflammatory claim. We're not going to amplify it as fact.
BAnd we have exactly one light item tonight. A journalist posted the most mundane breaking news of the week.
BWhat's that?
B'Soup news; it's sausage barley. Late breaking developments: bread pudding.'
BFinally, the hard-hitting coverage we've been missing.
BIt's a reminder that not everything has to be war and politics. Sometimes the soup is just soup.
BAnd the bread pudding is a late-breaking development.