SNL Alumnus Scalds Texas GOP Leaders
for Facilitating Muslim Takeover in Texas
Capitol Inside
July 27, 2026
AG's Camp Suspects Ex-SNL
Star is Stalking Horse for Dems with Frantic Claims on Muslims
Republicans think they smell a rat with comedy actor Rob Schneider's bizarre rescue ride to save Texas from a Muslim stampede that he says the state's top three leaders have fostered with a combination of actions and neglect.
U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton's camp seems to see the former Saturday Night Live regular as a stalking horse with accusations that Governor Greg Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and her boss have paved the way for state's Islamification of the Lone Star State.
"Who's paying you?" Paxton senior adviser Michelle Smith asked in a post on X. "Either someone is paying you to do this or you are a total fraud and want to help the democrats? Which is it? This is fake news and you have no clue what you are talking about. Seriously who's paying you?"
GOP loyalists here are guessing that Schneider is using psychological warfare to make Republicans voters less enthusiastic about the general election in ways that prompt them to skip it.
But Schneider switched parties to the GOP about 12 years ago. He's been involved in the anti-vaccine movement and endorsed Robert F. Kennedy for president in 2024 initially before shifting his allegiance to Donald Trump when his first choice suspended his own campaign.
Schneider portrayed two separate tweets today with nearly 1,200 words combined as a frantic attempt to head off an Islamic invasion. But Paxton's campaign depicted Schneider's warnings as a sham. .
"What fake is his accusations about AG Paxton not doing anything," Smith said on X. "This is a straight lie. 1st off the constitution limits what State leaders can do. They can't just make whatever law they want. 2nd AG Paxton is currently involved in many lawsuits and investigations regarding the Muslims. So to make a blanket statement that he's not doing anything and AI him wearing Muslim garb is false!!"
Schneider's timing of the posts has fueled suspicions here in light of the fact that any harm he does to Abbott, Patrick or Paxton can only help their Democratic foes at this point more than four months after the Texas primary vote.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton compared his fight for a U.S. Senate this month to a comedy routine on late night television with an opponent who's into self-depricating humor with Democrat James Talarico. "I feel like I'm on a Saturday Night Live skit and he's mocking himself," the Republican Senate nominee told Fox News on July 17.
But it can be a small world when you're an international celebrity like the Texas AG has become as the torch-bearer for the GOP in the battle that could swing the Senate majority to the Democrats if Paxton goes down in November. And Paxton in the past few days has found a former SNL cast member who went on to be a movie star on a mission to pin the blame on the top three Republican leaders in Texas for a Muslim takeover that he believes to be in the making here.
Rob Schneider - a regular performer on SNL for five years in the 1990s - accused Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick in the past week of facilitating an Islamic incursion in the Lone Star State in exchange for a windfall of donor dollars he claims they've reaped as a consequence of actions and inaction. Schneider claims Paxton has been an integral part of the problem as well.
A regular performer on SNL for five years in the 1990s, Schneider took aim at the Texas power trio in a 488-word post that he intended as a wake-up call to fellow conservatives on X early Monday morning. Schneider picked up where he'd left off in a subsequent mid-morning post that consumed 670 words. Schneider has been posting pictures for several days that show Abbott, Patrick and Paxton draped in dark Islamic robes with a flag that's part Texas and part Pakistani as the backdrop.
"I am a proud conservative willing to call out those who claim the Republican label while refusing to act like one," Schneider wrote. "However, this also means we cannot just point the finger at our leaders. We must all show up to the polls - then keep showing up to town halls, city councils, and meet-and-greets. We need to keep the pressure on and make sure our politicians actually represent us.
"First, get real conservatives into office," the actor and comedian added. "Then keep the pressure on. Get our churches engaged - because I can promise you every one of the 330-plus mosques in Texas will be showing up to vote. It is time we stop being afraid to call out the Islamic and Marxist threats - and every single leader enabling them, especially the Republican ones like Dan Patrick, Greg Abbott, and Ken Paxton - or we are going to fall like Europe."
Schneider questioned a week ago whether the Texas governor had been as soft as he claims on an alleged Islamic insurgence as a result of contributions he's taken from Muslim interests. "I’m starting to think that the money Texas Governor Abbot took from Muslims is why he is allowing his state to be conquered…," Schneider said in a x post.
A review of Texas Ethics Commission records shows that Abbott's largest contributor to his current re-election campaign has been Javiad Anwar - a Midland oil company executive who's been a leading force in local Muslim organizations, community projects and mosques. The Texas governor has taken $8.6 million from Anwar since 2023. Patrick had reported donations of $370,000 from Anwar in the same span of time.
Anwar's largess is nothing new. He was a major contributor to former Texas governors George W. Bush and Rick Perry in the past. But the Republicans who preceded Abbott in the governor's office did not go out of their way to paint themselves as anti-Muslim like the state's current top leader has done in recent years.
Feeling heat from MAGA forces on the far right, Abbott designated the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic civil rights group CAIR as terrorist organizations. The governor has opposed Muslim housing developments like the so-called project Epic City - and he's signed legislation designed to ban Sharia courts from operating in Texas.
But Schneider the Saturday Night Live alumni appears to see the actions as window dressing that makes it possible to play the issue both ways.
"Show me the speech where any of these three leaders said they are concerned about the Islamic takeover occurring in their state, Schneider argued in the post today.. "Show me one real victory in the last eleven years that has slowed this threat. Because when I look, I can find plenty of examples of them pandering to the very forces transforming Texas.
"Until Texans and I see real movement and results, I will remain very loud, and I urge every Texan to do the same," Schneider vowed. "This is a warning to every red-state leader and every Republican: your people are exhausted. They do not want to become the next Europe."
The Republicans in power in Texas will be inclined to dismiss Schneider as a show business kook who rank-and-file voters here will not take seriously. A three-time Emmy nominee for the legendary NBC show SNL, Schneider segwayed to the big screen as the star of slapstick comedies like Down Periscope, Big Daddy, The Animal, The Hot Chick, Benchwarmers, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and the sequel Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.
Schneider had roles of various sizes in the lion's share of movies that former SNL cast colleague Adam Sandler made including Grown Ups, The Waterboy, The Longest Yard and 50 First Dates. Scheider, who's never been a resident of Texas, had been a Democrat until switching to the GOP more than 10 years ago.
The Texas leaders who've been in the ex-SNL performer's sights had ignored Schneider's accusations up to now. Their central beef with the comedian's protests are the fact that it's too late to replace the Texas Republicans he's been attacking with anything but Democrats at this point in the election season. | 
