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By Jordan King
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U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton addressed a leaked clip of him criticizing President Donald Trump, saying “just because they were able to clip a few things doesn’t mean that that’s actually what I meant."
The New York Times reported at the end of last month that Paxton, the Republican Texas attorney general who is running against Democratic state Representative James Talarico in November, said Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas in September hurt him politically.
“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,” he told a group of conservative donors the week before, the Times reported, citing an audio recording.
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Asked about the recording on Fox News' The Big Weekend Show on Sunday, Paxton said: “I’m not worried about it at all. You can look at my record, you can look what I’ve done over the last 12 years, I have supported President Trump, I love President Trump, we’ve worked together on many, many issues—he’s been at work extremely hard to help me get elected and I really appreciate him.
“He’s done a great job as president. In my lifetime, no one’s ever…done more. So just because they were able to clip a few things doesn’t mean that that’s actually what I meant. So let’s just go back to the record, not this little game that James Talarico has played the whole time.”
Paxton's team had already dismissed the tape as “nonsense,” while Trump and Vice President JD Vance also brushed it off saying the convention had been “amazing” and they were not concerned about Paxton’s “off-the-record conversation.”
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What Did Ken Paxton Say in the Leaked Audio
In the clip, Paxton is asked: "Do you feel like he's a little bit of a drag?” the Times reported. It is not clear who the question was referring to.
Paxton said: "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."
The audio was recorded at a private fundraiser in Washington, D.C., that about 12 people attended, according to the Times. It was given to the newspaper by an attendee.
Newsweek has been unable to independently verify the audio.
At the time, Nick Maddux, senior advisor to Paxton, called the story “more manipulated nonsense from The New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist.”
“Every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved since early September,” Maddux told The Texas Tribune. “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.”
How Trump Reacted
Trump and Vance dismissed the comments.
When Trump was asked about the audio in the Oval Office, he said he “hadn’t heard that,” before going on to call the Republican Midterm Convention that Paxton was talking about, held on September 9 and 10, “amazing.” He added that "other people were helped greatly" by the event.
Meanwhile, Vance later told Fox News: "What Ken said in an off-the-record conversation with a donor—I got to be honest with you—I'm not particularly concerned about. We're going to help Ken."
Trump endorsed Paxton over Republican Senator John Cornyn, who lost to Paxton in a primary runoff in May, calling him a “true MAGA warrior.”
Latest Polling on Paxton-Talarico Race
While Paxton has enjoyed a lead in many polls in the Republican-leaning state, several surveys have shown a tightening race.
In a UMass Lowell poll released last week, Paxton and Talarico were tied at 45 percent. The pollster interviewed 850 likely Texas voters September 18-28. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
A YouGov poll conducted September 28-October 5 among 3,625 likely voters found that 50 percent supported Talarico and 44 percent backed Paxton. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Democrats believe Paxton's poor favorability numbers, as well as a favorable national environment fueled by Trump’s declining national approval rating, gives Talarico a chance to flip the seat.
But Republicans hope the state’s partisanship will help push Paxton across the finish line. They have started to invest more money into the race to help give him a boost, and Trump has campaigned in Texas to help Republicans in the final stretch of the campaign.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Cannon and Dave Siminoff.
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