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🗞️ Story file #71

Angela Paxton endorses Texas GOP ticket

Oct 4, 6 PM ET to Oct 6, 8 AM ET · 1 outlet not rated for lean

👣 How this story traveled: from the front pages that broke it, out through TV, radio and the shows, into what people retold and what fact-checkers examined, and on into the saga it is part of. Everything here is matched to the story by our tools, so a link can be wrong; the trackers' pages say how each is made.

  1. Oct 4, 6 PM ETfirst on a front page: Washington Examiner
  2. Oct 4, 9 PM ETfirst on TV: Fox News
  3. Oct 5, 8 AM ETretold online by 8 people
  4. Oct 5, 4 PM ETpeak: on 12 front pages

📰 Spread

the front pages that ran it, hour by hour

Oct 56 AM12 PM6 PMOct 66 AM612leftcenterrightnot rated
Front pages carrying it at each hourly run, Oct 4, 6 PM to Oct 6, 8 AM ET (peak 12), by the outlets' lean: left · center · right · not rated
Oct 412 PMOct 512 PMOct 6The Daily WireThe Daily WireThe Daily Wire, Oct 3, 3:00 PM ET: Ken Paxton’s Estranged Wife Makes Her Choice In Texas Senate RaceThe Washington TimesThe Washington TimesThe Washington Times, Oct 3, 3:00 PM ET: Paxton’s estranged wife backs Texas GOP ticket in new adThe Washington SunThe Washington SunThe Washington Sun, Oct 3, 5:00 PM ET: Ken Paxton’s Ex-Wife Says She’s Voting for Ken Paxton — Without Mentioning Ken PaxtonMediaiteMediaiteMediaite, Oct 3, 6:00 PM ET: Ken Paxton’s Wife Takes a Break From Their Divorce to Urge Texans to Vote for Him Over James TalaricoMediaite, Oct 5, 12:00 PM ET: Ken Paxton’s Estranged Wife Stuns With ‘Strange Ad’ Supporting the Texas GOP: ‘Embarrassing’The Gateway PunditThe Gateway PunditThe Gateway Pundit, Oct 3, 10:00 PM ET: Angela Paxton Demolishes Leftist Dreams: Estranged Wife of Ken Paxton Urges Conservative Voters to ‘Hold the Line’ and Vote GOP Straight Down the Ticket!The BulwarkThe BulwarkThe Bulwark, Oct 3, 10:00 PM ET: Ken Paxton Gets a Painfully Awkward “Endorsement” From Estranged WifeFox NewsFox NewsFox News, Oct 4, 12:00 PM ET: Paxton's estranged wife makes it clear whose 'team' she is on in Texas endorsement videoJust the NewsJust the NewsJust the News, Oct 4, 4:00 PM ET: Angela Paxton supports GOP ticket despite divorce from Ken PaxtonBreitbartBreitbartBreitbart, Oct 4, 6:00 PM ET: Texas State Sen Angela Paxton Voting for Estranged Husband Ken PaxtonWashington ExaminerWashington ExaminerWashington Examiner, Oct 4, 6:00 PM ET: Angela Paxton backs Texas GOP ticket without naming estranged husband KenWashington Examiner, Oct 4, 7:00 PM ET: Angela Paxton backs Texas GOP ticket without naming estranged husbandWashington Examiner, Oct 4, 10:00 PM ET: Angela Paxton backs Texas GOP ticket without naming KenNewsweekNewsweekNewsweek, Oct 4, 11:00 PM ET: Who Is Angela Paxton? Ken Paxton’s Estranged Wife Urges Voters To Back GOPRaw StoryRaw StoryRaw Story, Oct 5, 4:00 PM ET: Awkward new ad featuring Ken Paxton's estranged wife 'made his situation worse': analyst📺 TVCNN, 8:22 PM ET: NEW AD FEATURES PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKING. HIS CANDIDACY WITHOUT MENTIONING HIM BY NAMECNN, 8:23 PM ET: NEW AD FEATURES PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKING. HIS CANDIDACY WITHOUT MENTIONING HIM BY NAMECNN, 11:10 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAMECNN, 11:10 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAMECNN, 11:11 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAMEFox News, 9:31 PM ET: FOX NEWS POLL: TALARICO LEADS PAXTON IN TEXASFox News, 9:32 PM ET: FOX NEWS POLL: TALARICO LEADS PAXTON IN TEXASFox News, 12:31 AM ET: FOX NEWS POLL: TALARICO LEADS PAXTON IN TEXASFox News, 12:31 AM ET: FOX NEWS POLL: TALARICO LEADS PAXTON IN TEXASFox News, 12:32 AM ET: FOX NEWS POLL: TALARICO LEADS PAXTON IN TEXASCNN, 12:01 PM ET: KEN PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE: I'M VOTING FOR "REPUBLICAN TICKET"CNN, 12:02 PM ET: KEN PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE: I'M VOTING FOR "REPUBLICAN TICKET"CNN, 12:09 PM ET: KEN PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE AND GOP STATE SEN. ANGELA PAXTON ENDORSES TEXAS GOP "TICKET" IN NEW TV ADCNN, 12:10 PM ET: KEN PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE AND GOP STATE SEN. ANGELA PAXTON ENDORSES TEXAS GOP "TICKET" IN NEW TV ADCNN, 12:11 PM ET: KEN PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE AND GOP STATE SEN. ANGELA PAXTON ENDORSES TEXAS GOP "TICKET" IN NEW TV ADCNN, 1:04 PM ET: NEW AD FEATURES PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKING. HIS CANDIDACY WITHOUT MENTIONING HIM BY NAMECNN, 1:05 PM ET: NEW AD FEATURES PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKING. HIS CANDIDACY WITHOUT MENTIONING HIM BY NAMECNN, 6:51 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAMECNN, 6:51 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAMECNN, 6:51 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAMECNN, 6:51 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAMECNN, 6:52 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAMECNN, 6:53 PM ET: PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAME🧶 online🧶found retold online (the day's report)
Who carried it and when: each outlet in the order it picked the story up, a bar for each headline from when we first saw it on the front page to when we last did, in the outlet's lean color (dashed: not rated); a dot marks a new headline. Beneath, its captions on TV, the radio newscasts that carried it (bigger: the lead) and when people were found retelling it. Hover for details.
✏️ 2 outlets ran more than one headline on it (reworded, or a follow-up)
  • Mediaite (2 wordings): “Ken Paxton’s Wife Takes a Break From Their Divorce to Urge Texans to Vote for Him Over James Talarico” → “Ken Paxton’s Estranged Wife Stuns With ‘Strange Ad’ Supporting the Texas GOP: ‘Embarrassing’”
  • Washington Examiner (3 wordings): “Angela Paxton backs Texas GOP ticket without naming estranged husband Ken” → “Angela Paxton backs Texas GOP ticket without naming Ken”
Every outlet's first headline (12), left to right by AllSides rating

📡 Broadcast

TV, radio, and the shows that talked about it

📺 On TV

CNN11 min
Fox News2 min
  • PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKS HIM IN AD WITHOUT SAYING HIS NAME CNN, 6 min
  • KEN PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE AND GOP STATE SEN. ANGELA PAXTON ENDORSES TEXAS GOP "TICKET" IN NEW TV AD CNN, 2 min
  • FOX NEWS POLL: TALARICO LEADS PAXTON IN TEXAS Fox News, 2 min
  • NEW AD FEATURES PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE BACKING. HIS CANDIDACY WITHOUT MENTIONING HIM BY NAME CNN, 2 min
  • KEN PAXTON'S ESTRANGED WIFE: I'M VOTING FOR "REPUBLICAN TICKET" CNN, 65 s

🧶 Retelling

what people online made of it

🧶 Retold online

  • Angela Paxton, Ken Paxton's estranged wife, is supporting her husband's Senate bid while avoiding mentioning him by name, casting the Republican ticket as a corrupt, unethical entity that subjugates women and denies them bodily autonomy. Oct 5: told by 8 people
    🧩 Corruption 🧩 Subjugation of women

On Folklore: the latest in full, with their motifs and who is telling them.

🎙️ The same shape, told by voters

What voters in The Focus Group's episodes told that's filed under the same motifs, in our words (not theirs), often from months before.

🗣️ names in it: Ken Paxton Angela Paxton Texas Republican Party James Talarico

🔎 Checking

what the fact-checkers looked into

🧐 No fact-checker has taken it on yet.

🧵 Persistence

the running story it belongs to

🧵 Ken Paxton Senate Campaign Controversy

  1. Angela Paxton endorses Texas GOP ticket (this story)

    Oct 4, 6 PM ET

  2. Ken Paxton admits campaign is controlled by Washington in leaked audio

    Oct 5, 1 PM ET

Rebuilt every hour from the front pages of the outlets we follow.
Lean ratings: AllSides (CC BY-NC 4.0) · reliability: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Everything else (mood, spin, feelings, framing) is our own reading of the headlines.