Texas Republicans Return To Islamophobia
What A Day
What A Day
4.6 • 12.6K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
The Texas Senate primary is already setting records for both Republicans and Democrats, with more than $110 million spent on advertising and reserved ad time. And on the Republican side, where Senator John Cornyn is facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt, things have gotten incredibly messy. But there's at least one thing those three candidates can agree on: Islamophobic rhetoric. So, why is the Texas GOP laser-focused on Islam? To find out, we spoke with Forrest Wilder. He's a senior writer at Texas Monthly.
And in headlines, Surgeon General nominee Casey Means testifies before the Senate Health Committee, South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace hopes to hold lawmakers accountable for sexual harassment violations, and Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar's State of the Union guest is arrested after standing up during the President's speech.
Show Notes:
- Check out Forrest's story – https://tinyurl.com/2yep8yk4
- Call Congress – 202-224-3121
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Thursday, February 26th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is What Today? |
| 0:07.7 | The show that thanks House Speaker Mike Johnson for sharing his deepest fears after the State of the Union Tuesday night. |
| 0:13.6 | If we lost the midterms, heaven forbid. If we lost the majority in the House, it would be the end of the Trump presidency in a real effect. |
| 0:21.0 | Oh, no. it would be the end of the Trump presidency in a real effect. Oh, no. |
| 0:23.3 | That would be terrible. |
| 0:31.2 | On today's show, South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace hopes to hold lawmakers |
| 0:35.6 | accountable for sexual harassment violations. |
| 0:38.3 | And Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar's State of the Union guest is charged with unlawful conduct after standing up during the president's speech. |
| 0:46.3 | But let's start with Texas. |
| 0:48.3 | The Longhorn State's Senate primary is already setting money records for both Republicans and Democrats, |
| 0:52.3 | with more than $110 million |
| 0:54.7 | being spent in advertising and reserved ad time. But on the Republican side, where Senator John |
| 1:01.0 | Cornyn is facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt, |
| 1:05.8 | things have gotten incredibly messy. How messy? This is an ad released Wednesday by Cornyn and the National Republican |
| 1:13.2 | Senatorial Committee. It's voting time. So let's cut through the bullshit. Crooked Ken Paxton |
| 1:19.7 | cheated on his wife. She's divorcing him on biblical grounds. So now Paxton's wrecking another home, |
| 1:25.7 | sleeping around with a married mother of seven. |
| 1:28.2 | And remember this, Crooked Ken has increased his net worth by as much as 7,000 percent since |
| 1:33.9 | taking office. |
| 1:35.0 | And his actions in office, even more troubling. |
| 1:38.5 | Again, that is Republican on Republican violence. |
| 1:42.7 | Woof. |
... |
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