U.S. Tourist Claims Paxton Lunged at Him
in London in Bid to Grab Phone with Video
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September 15, 2026
Texas Republican Ken Paxton knows how the stars feel when the paparazzi is on their tail after being filmed with a girlfriend in London on July 4th by a fellow American tourist who's accused the U.S. Senate contender of trying to physically intimidate him in an attempt to take his cell phone away.
According to a story on Tuesday in the Daily Mail, a conservative tabloid based in London, the man who caught the Texas attorney general on camera said in an interview that Paxton yelled and lunged at him while claiming that he had no right to film him. The man, who was identified only as a fellow American tourist, told the British newspaper that he held his ground in the face of Paxton's demands and refused to surrender his phone.
"I stopped because I was just hot, and I said, 'I can absolutely film you. You're a public figure in a public place, and I can film you all I want'," the man who shot the 18-second Paxton video said.
"He says, 'You can't do that. Let me have your phone. I want your phone,' and then at this point it's a confrontation," the man added. "He's yelling at me, and I'm telling him to back off. He lunged at the phone a second time and tried to force it from me."
The man who filmed Paxton had been with his wife at the time - and he said he told her to get her own phone out to record the confrontation when it was still under way on the Westminster Bridge. The couple reported the scene to police but have sought to remain anonymous because they feared retaliation by Paxton or his supporters on the far right.
The Texas Democratic Party seized on the story as fresh ammunition for an attack in a U.S. Senate race that Democrat James Talarico has been leading by relatively small amounts in the polls.
"These allegations are disturbing and Texans deserve to know if Ken Paxton tried to intimidate and attack a couple for simply filming him on the streets of London," TDP spokesperson Ryan Martin said in an email. "Paxton has refused to comment on his luxury European vacation with his mistress for months despite bipartisan backlash. The public has a right to know if Texas’ top law enforcement officer attacked a couple abroad, Paxton needs to come clean now.”
Paxton has remained mum on the amateur video escapade that had been the source of substantial embarrassment for him on a trip that began as a secret getaway for the holiday weekend with an initial stop in Iceland. The Daily Mail named Paxton's traveling partner as Tracy Duhon, a Christian influencer who's been divorced since last year.
But Paxton's campaign has struggled mightily since his return from the European vacation. After catching Talarico in the polling in June in the wake of a primary runoff victory over incumbent John Cornyn on May 26, the Texas AG has trailed the Democrat in 13 of 14 polls that were taken on the Texas race since the start of July.
Paxton had been expecting a surge after his teaming with President Donald Trump last week in Texas at a novel midterm convention for the GOP. But Paxton's performance at the Republican National Committee event in Dallas may be having the opposite effect on the Texas Senate race if it's having any at all.
The prediction platform Polymarket listed Talarico's probability of winning in November at 56 percent on Tuesday morning - the highest mark that it's reached on that site. Talarico had been a 51 percent favorite on Polymarket throughout the weekend.
Kalshi had Paxton up as high as 52 percent in recent days before listing Talarico as a 53 percent favorite on Tuesday - a five point swing in the Democrat's favor since the Trump convention in Dallas.
more to come ...
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