Paxton privately trashed Trump’s midterm convention: leaked audio

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at the 2024 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona on December 21, 2024 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

President Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues failed to receive a "bump" from their midterm convention in Dallas, Texas in September.

The goal of the convention was for Trump to spend several nights promoting GOP speakers in an hours-long event that was capped off each night by speeches from him and the vice president. In reality, Not only did the Republican party as a whole fail to achieve a bump from the convention, but Senate candidate Ken Paxton likewise saw no lift from the event. After Republicans spent around $50 million for the gathering, Paxton's numbers didn't move an inch. In fact, according to Paxton, the whole thing may have actually hurt him.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Paxton was caught on tape blaming Trump for the empty promises of the convention. During a private Washington D.C., fundraiser last Thursday, Paxton was taped by an attendee, and that recording was passed along to the Times.

“Do you feel like he’s a little bit of a drag?” A person asks, though it isn't clear at first whether they're referring to Trump or someone else.

Paxton says: “So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”

According to the Times, the gathering was only about a dozen people and the person who recorded it emphatically opposes Paxton.

"Three other people with knowledge of the event confirmed Mr. Paxton’s attendance. Two of these people recalled that Mr. Paxton had been posed this question, and one recalled his response about the negative consequences of Mr. Trump’s convention," the Times said.

A senior Paxton adviser, Nick Maddux, claimed that the recording was fake.

“This is more manipulated nonsense from The New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist," Maddux said.

“Our latest poll from the last week has Ken Paxton leading by three points, and every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September,” Maddux added. “Ken Paxton is going to win this race, and he looks forward to closing strong alongside President Trump, including when he comes to Texas this week.”

Two Republican lobbyists, Susan Hirschmann and Chris Brinson, held the event in a conference room near Capitol Hill, the report explained.

The report called Paxton's remarks "notable" given his strong relationship with Trump and the extent to which the president stuck his neck out to support Paxton over safe Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

The president, meanwhile, constantly blasts Paxton for looking sloppy and lacking public speaking chops.

“He may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen,” the president said, “but you know what, he is — he’s the greatest attorney general in America.”

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