Texas Editor: Stockman's Bid to Unseat Cornyn Turns 'Bizarre'

The editor in chief of The Texas Tribune called efforts by Texas Rep. Steve Stockman to unseat fellow Republican Sen. John Cornyn "bizarre."

"The Stockman campaign has ... been, to put it mildly, bizarre. It's a little bit like an Andy Kaufman prank,"  Evan Smith told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday, referring to the late eccentric comedian.

Stockman disappeared for nearly three weeks in January, and may have gone to Russia and London, Breitbart reported.

The Texas congressman walked out of this year's State of the Union speech, according to a post on his Twitter account. He has attempted to paint Cornyn as a tax-and-spend liberal who also wants to rein in gun rights, according to The Dallas Morning News. He launched a website in January attacking Cornyn as a proponent of Obamacare.

Smith explained Stockman was first believed to have posed a conservative challenge to Cornyn in the Texas Republican primary. But now, he said many "base tea party Republican guys don't support Stockman."

"Nobody can figure out what this guy is doing or what his campaign is doing," Smith said. "Cornyn's going to walk away, by all accounts in this poll, with this primary — no runoff."

Related Stories:

• Rep. Stockman Walks Out on SOTU, Says Obama Abuses Power
• Rep. Stockman to Challenge Cornyn in Senate Primary in Texas