Texas AG Ken Paxton addresses Utah trip during historic winter storm
Paxton said he left Texas to discuss ERCOT's handling of the power grid
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addressed rumors Friday about his recent trip to Utah during Texas’ winter storm for which he received widespread media backlash.
Paxton joined “Mornings With Maria” to explain that the purpose of his trip was to meet with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes about an anti-trust lawsuit filed against tech giant Google, law enforcement issues, and problems surrounding election integrity.
“The fact that when you Google me, it’s not shocking to me that you would find a negative story versus what we’re actually focused on,” Paxton told Maria Bartiromo.
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Paxton said that in addition to the other issues discussed, he also met with Reyes to start preliminary investigations into ERCOT, the organization that operates Texas’ power grid.
He added that it was not “shocking” that social media algorithms curating news stories on him focused on his trip to Utah, as opposed to his recent victory in court against Biden’s 100-day deportation halt or the Google anti-trust lawsuit.
Paxton and the state of Texas are leading the charge in new anti-trust actions against Google.
"I am proud to announce the state of Texas is filing a multi-state lawsuit against Google for anti-competitive conduct, exclusionary practices, and deceptive misrepresentations,” Paxton said in a video posted to Twitter in December. "Google repeatedly used its monopolistic power to control pricing, engage in market collusions to rig auctions in a tremendous violation of justice."
He recently received widespread media backlash after taking a trip to Utah during his home state of Texas’ devastating winter storm and subsequent power outages.
Numerous outlets criticized Paxton for the trip, including The Washington Post, CNN, and The Huffington Post.
Another prominent Texas Republican, Sen. Ted Cruz, also recently faced public outrage and media scrutiny for a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico during the blistering Texas winter storm.
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He later apologized for his actions, claiming the trip was “obviously a mistake and in hindsight [he] wouldn’t have done it.”
FOX Business' Lucas Manfredi and Yaron Steinbuch contributed to this report.
