Nebraska congressman on Ken Paxton’s nomination and ongoing Russia-Ukraine war

(KYMA, CBS) - Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about Ken Paxton's Senate nomination.

Last month, Paxton won the Texas primary, defeating Sen. John Cornyn to be the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Paxton also earned an endorsement from President Donald Trump prior to the Texas primary.

However, Paxton has faced high-profile scandals, including a 2023 impeachment by the Republican-controlled State House, though the State Senate acquitted him, and a messy public divorce, with his wife citing "biblical grounds."

This prompted Brennan to ask Rep. Bacon if President Trump's endorsement carries more weight than character, to which the congressman said:

"I think in many cases it does. His endorsement in a primary is often carries the most weight. I think it was a mistake. I think this has hurt the president. A lot of senators feel very close to Senator Cornyn. He was a big fundraiser. He helped a lot of these Republicans get elected all over the country, so there's a lot of loyalty to John Cornyn. In fact, I know him too, and I admire the guy. And now...we've nominated a guy in Texas that is probably the most vulnerable in a general election, and it puts that seat up for grabs. So...I don't think it was a wise decision, and...one other factor here is the Democrat nominee. I think he's also pretty weak, though, in Texas. So, I think they both sides have nominated people that are vulnerable in general. But, John Cornyn could have won the seat easily, and now the Republicans will be spending a lot of money to hold it, and I think it was a mistake."

During the interview, Brennan and Bacon talked about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Brennan brought up her interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from last week, with President Zelenskyy asking for more interceptors while making it clear he wants friendly countries in Europe who have a good relationship with the U.S. to be able to produce the Patriots as well.

She also said his colleague, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), wrote a letter to the president asking for that part to be delivered on.

When asked if he support it, Bacon said:

"I do support it. We cannot produce enough Patriots right now to handle what we're doing on Iran to provide Ukraine, but also we need to have the same missile defenses in Asia, for whether it's North Korea or China, and we're not producing enough, so we should look for our allies to help create additional production lines. I know Ukraine would love to help do that, and they need these missiles very badly. What I would do in this case, and we have a low stockpile because of Iran, I would sit down with our allies and just look at what assets we have and come up with a plan to give anti-ballistic missile technology and capabilities to Ukraine, and we can't do it all, but we should sit down with our allies and build a plan and get it done."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Bacon, click here.