meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
PBS News Hour - Segments

Capehart and Continetti on Talarico's chances against Paxton in Texas

PBS News Hour - Segments

PBS NewsHour

News, Daily News

4.11K Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2026

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jonathan Capehart of MS NOW and Wall Street Journal opinion columnist Matthew Continetti join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics, including midterm primary elections showing more signs of strength for President Trump within the GOP, James Talarico's chances against Ken Paxton in Texas and Jill Biden speaking for the first time about the former president's health. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Well, this week's midterm primary elections showed more signs of strength for President Trump within the GOP.

0:06.3

That unfolded as Jill Biden spoke up for the first time about the former president's health while he was running for a second term.

0:13.1

For analysis of all of this and more, we turn to Jonathan Capehart and Matthew Contenetti, Kpart of MS Now.

0:19.9

And Contenetti, a Wall Street Journal, opinion columnist and scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

0:25.6

David Brooks is away this evening.

0:27.6

It's always good to see, gentlemen.

0:28.6

Thank you, Jeff.

0:29.6

So the biggest political story of the week came out of Texas where Attorney General Ken Paxton

0:33.6

routed longtime Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary there.

0:38.3

You've got Cornyn who represents the Republican establishment.

0:41.3

Paxton, who was backed by President Trump.

0:43.3

He's faced securities fraud charges dating back a decade.

0:47.3

He was impeached for purportedly misusing his office.

0:50.3

There had been accusations of infidelity.

0:52.3

Jonathan, what does a nearly 30-point margin tell us about where the GOP is right now?

0:57.8

Well, what it says, you take Cornyn's loss by almost 28 points, you take Cassidy's loss in Louisiana,

1:05.8

coming in third, another sitting Republican senator losing by 20 points.

1:10.9

To me, what it says is that President Trump is king of Maga in that specific core base.

1:19.4

But it also says he is the ruler of the Republican Party.

1:22.9

And if you are a Republican running for office, you fear not getting the president's endorsement.

1:28.9

The question is, does that translate to the general?

1:33.3

Now, the president's approval numbers are in the 30s, depending on which survey you look

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 22 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from PBS NewsHour, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of PBS NewsHour and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.