Several scenes where video of the announcement of the Senate campaign for Republican Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton was filmed abroad, the Daily Call News Foundation learned.
Paxton released a 2.5 minute long video Following his decision on April 9th to put a major challenge to incumbent Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn. According to a DCNF review of video procurement, the video, which promotes Paxton’s conservative qualifications and accussing Cornyn of betraying the “America First” movement, uses stock footage shot in Ukraine, Russia and South Africa. (Related: “known fraud and fraud”: John Cornyn shakes against Ken Paxton)
“Senator John Cornyn has turned his back on President Trump,” the video narrator said. “Now is the time for change. Ken Paxton is a conservative fighter who they couldn’t cancel.”
For years, John Cornyn has betrayed President Trump and the First American movement. Texas deserves better, and that’s why I run for our Senate.
Join the battle: https://t.co/rql0p2unwu pic.twitter.com/wp1g8vbxi0
– Attorney General Ken Paxton (@kenpaxtontx) April 9, 2025
Paxton’s campaign is not the first use Foreign images Licensed from the Stock Footage website to portray Americans. Candidates for both parties, including Oregon Democrat Janelle Bynum and former Republican Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastoriano, have raised eyebrows in recent years. Features Foreign Stocks picture Campaign material.
According to a DCNF review, Paxton video or footage contributor locations and footage contributor locations were easily identified on the most commonly used stock footage websites.
DCNF consulted the video director whenever possible and spokesman for a stock footage website that could license the content to confirm that the footage was filmed in the following countries:
The Paxton campaign declined to comment.
A Ukrainian woman runs with an American flag on the sidewalk in Lviv, Ukraine. She runs in a 4-second clip in a Paxton campaign video. (Screenshots of Paxton Campaign Video)
The camera follows a woman running on the sidewalk as she raises an American flag over her shoulder. The video’s narrator declares, “Fight for our future. Join the Ken Paxton team.”
The Ukrainian marathon manager is not jogging in the US, but along the streets of Lviv, a western Ukrainian city, the director of the footage told DCNF.
Pedestrian intersections in Europe sign On a blue background, some parts are invisible, but they are visible under the yellow banner. The Ukrainian manager told DCNF that road signs seen in the shots are common in his country.
The Ukrainian filmed the video Upload Content for stock photo provider shutterstock in June 2021. He bought the flag during his 2018 trip to Florida, he told DCNF. At Key West, he filmed the reverse image.
A Ukrainian woman holds a baby in Donetsk, Ukraine. They are easily seen in Paxton’s first campaign video. (Screenshots of Paxton Campaign Video)
Paxton’s campaign video temporarily goes zero to silhouettes of mother and her baby playing in front of a curtained window. The narrator boasts that the Texas Attorney General “advocated for the right to life.”
The mother and child are Ukrainian. The foreign footage director told DCNF that the scene was set in Donetsk.
Stock footage sites ISTOCK and POND5 list position Original video of mothers and babies as Ukraine. director Upload The 2018 footage to istock later left the area, citing “difficult political situations” in an email.
Four men are walking in a parking garage in Chelyabinsk, Russia. The Paxton campaign used stock footage in the first campaign video. (Screenshots of Paxton Campaign Video)
Also, in Paxton’s video, profiles of four men retreat from the view in a dark parking garage. The video narrator says the Texas Attorney General is “a fearless conservative who was taken to the facility.”
this picture A spokesman for ISTOCK told DCNF in 2016, filmed in Chelyabinsk, a central Russian city near the border with Kazakhstan.
According to a DCNF review, the location and title of the Russian shot “Epic Mafia Men Walking Away” can be easily identified on most stock footage websites where you can license the video. Another shot shows a Russian actor swing Baseball bat.
This video belongs to a Russian multimedia company claim Having the largest production studio in Russia. Republican lawmakers’ campaign was used picture It was sourced in 2018 from the same Russian production company.
South African high school students can be seen walking in a video of Paxton’s campaign announcement. (Screenshots of Paxton Campaign Video).
In another scene, students walk through the school hallways and the video narrator “eliminates all awakened programs funded by Ken Paxton… John Cornyn.”
Students have come a long way from Texas. The footage was filmed at a high school in Cape Town, South Africa, an ISTOCK spokesperson told DCNF.
The Cornyn campaign was hit with Paxton for using “cheap stock footage” in a statement sent via email to DCNF.
“If Con Man Ken Paxton doesn’t have the ability to ensure that his campaign announcement video does not use cheap stock footage from Russia, South Africa and Ukraine, how can Texas conservatives be sure to represent and fight the 33 million Texans? [President Donald] Trump’s agenda of what John Cornyn has every day? A spokesperson for the Cornyn campaign said in a statement that he wrote the word “Ukraine” on all caps.
Cornyn similarly called Paxton “known scams and scams” on April 9, following the Attorney General’s announcement of a major challenge.
Paxton repeats Discussed The incumbent Republican senator cares more about Ukraine’s border security than the southern border. He denounced Kornin, who appeared in Ukrainian “propaganda video” in February, and accused Kornin of being called “Ukrainian Senator.” Interview On Punchbowl News.
“Two weeks ago, John Cornyn will fly to Munich and become the star of Zelensky’s propaganda video, which aims to win taxes for tens of thousands of people sent to Ukraine,” Paxton said. I wrote it In a post from X, he mentions his opponent meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference in February.
Don’t forget two weeks ago, John Cornyn flew to Munich and became the star of Zelensky’s propaganda video, which aims to increase tens of thousands of taxes sent to Ukraine.
It’s really incredible to see. https://t.co/bebgdvd6nr
– Attorney General Ken Paxton (@kenpaxtontx) February 28, 2025
The bitter primary contest already filled with personal attacks is expected to become stronger as Cornyn and Paxton compete for the Republican nomination. Other candidates may still be in the race. If Trump decides to support a candidate, he can prove that his support is critical.
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