It was a rough week for Roy, marked by his former boss engulfed in scandal, a bizarre debate performance, and last-ditch gimmicks to save his skin
This week can be summed up in one word for Congressman Chip Roy: bad.
Over the weekend, the Austin American-Statesman reported Roy’s former boss, Attorney General Ken Paxton, was accused by his own employees of criminal corruption, including a top Paxton deputy who held the same job Roy did while working for Paxton. Reminder: As Texas Monthly reported in December 2016, “the speculation circulating Austin was that with Paxton not around, Roy was the actual attorney general of Texas.”
Roy’s struggles to raise money are well-documented by now and on Monday, Roy’s allies propped up a new super PAC in a last-ditch effort to bail out a Roy campaign quickly taking on water. More than just a political gimmick, its 11th-hour formation is another ominous sign for Congressman Roy’s quickly-worsening political fate after being badly outraised and outspent by Wendy Davis for months.
The next day, Congressman Roy’s clock was cleaned in a debate against Wendy Davis. Roy’s performance was marked by his bizarre need to constantly baby-cradle a bottle of water, his random shout-out to a Twitter account he likes, and a closing statement that featured Roy reciting to viewers his family tree rather than laying out a compelling case for Texans to send him back to Congress.
On Thursday, the San Antonio Express-News endorsed Wendy Davis over Congressman Roy, bashing his dangerous and extreme views.
And on Friday, after facing weeks of ads highlighting his dangerous and extreme record on coronavirus airing across TX-21, Roy’s cash-strapped campaign went on the defensive with a desperate new TV ad seeking to once again lie to voters about his reckless record on coronavirus, after Roy’s first TV ad was an exercise in gaslighting so obvious it drew instant mockery from independent analysts.
One thing is for sure: If Congressman Roy is trying to explain his COVID-19 record, he’s losing.
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