WSJ's editors in disbelief at Republican's crusade against 'vast toothpaste conspiracy'

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is launching a bizarre crusade against Big Toothpaste — and it's left the conservative editorial board of the Wall Street Journal scratching their heads.

"Mr. Paxton said last week he is investigating Colgate-Palmolive Co., which makes the Colgate brand paste, and Procter & Gamble, which makes Crest," wrote the board. "Their offense? He says they’ve been 'marketing toothpaste products to parents and children in ways that are misleading, deceptive, and dangerous.'"

Essentially, the board wrote, he's pushing anti-fluoride conspiracy theories, similar to those promulgated by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Most of these theories focus on the idea people are being controlled or poisoned by fluoride in tap water — a measure proven to protect dental health — but Paxton is taking it a step further.

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"He’s out to nail what he thinks is the vast fluoride toothpaste conspiracy," wrote the board. "Mr. Paxton claims there is a 'statistically significant association' between children who ingested too much fluoride and lower IQ scores. He says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends only a 'rice-sized ‘smear’' for three-year-olds and the American Dental Association (ADA) recommends 'no more than a pea-sized amount' for children between three and six."

Apparently, the board noted, he missed that all these toothpaste manufacturers put those exact recommendations right on the packaging.

All of this, the board noted, comes as Paxton — who has faced a series of legal problems of his own — is mounting a cutthroat campaign against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, trying to position himself as the true heir to MAGA while the Senate GOP flails to protect Cornyn and begs Trump to step in on their behalf.

In the primary, the board concluded, Paxton "must figure there are primary votes in mimicking Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who blames fluoride for a laundry list of health problems. Oh, and the AG is also going after General Mills for dyes in breakfast cereals. He really is running against Lucky Charms."