Cornyn campaign, Patton Oswalt trade jabs over comedian’s support for Senate candidate

Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) campaign committee got into a war of words on Tuesday with comedian Patton Oswalt after tying tweets in which Oswalt used profanity to one of Cornyn’s 2020 Democratic challengers.

Oswalt appears in MJ Hegar’s video announcing her candidacy and tweeted her announcement to his 4.49 million followers. In response, Cornyn’s campaign committee tweeted censored screenshots of off-color jokes Oswalt has tweeted. 

Hollywood Hegar supporter and video guest star, Patton Oswalt, has tweeted some offensive comments over the years, reply A or B to let us know which one is more offensive to you: pic.twitter.com/gXgPvstK6V

— Team Cornyn (@TeamCornyn) April 23, 2019

{mosads}Oswalt fired back, mocking the account for censoring nonprofanity like “penis” and linking to a donation page for Hegar, calling it a “swear jar.” He also mocked a tweet in which Cornyn quoted Benito Mussolini seemingly without context, which the Texas senator later clarified was meant as a warning against an overly powerful government.

“Go tell your constituents about the time you babysat Chester A. Arthur, drink your Ensure, and sit down,” Oswalt tweeted.

I just noticed: you *****’d the word “penis.” Oh my god you Pepperidge Farm dipshit. Go tell your constituents about the time you babysat Chester A. Arthur, drink your Ensure, and sit down. https://t.co/iaGaJxCymU

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) April 23, 2019

In a follow-up tweet, Oswalt claimed Cornyn was “scared sh–less” of Hegar and was afraid to debate her, “so this is the straw he’s grasping at.”

If you’re wondering why I’m being gummed by @TeamCornyn, it’s because I’m in this ad for the extraordinary @mjhegar. @JohnCornyn is scared shitless — he won’t even debate her — so this is the straw he’s grasping at. Good luck, Pop-Pop! https://t.co/6JTYt9bNJT https://t.co/oEzrhhLr86

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) April 23, 2019

Hegar, an Air Force veteran who narrowly lost to Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) in 2018, announced her candidacy Tuesday.

“Texans deserve a senator who represents our values: strength, courage, independence, putting Texas first,” Hegar said in her announcement video.

Democrats have increasingly zeroed in on what they see as cracks in Republican dominance of the Lone Star State: President Trump carried the state by 7 fewer points than Mitt Romney did in 2012, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) lost to Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 by only 2 points while boosting several down-ballot Democrats with his presence on the ballot.