Texas Senate candidate turns on Trump and blames him for faltering campaign: ‘Dropped our numbers’

Texas Senate candidate turns on Trump and blames him for faltering campaign: ‘Dropped our numbers’ Ken Paxton heard on leaked audio complaining that president’s two-day summit in Dallas earlier this month harmed his campaign: ‘Yeah, not good’ - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton has complained that President Donald Trumps’ unusual midterms convention in his state earlier this month backfired by harming his campaign. An audio recording obtained by The New York Times reveals Paxton in conversation with a group of conservative donors and lobbyists during a meeting on Capitol Hill last Thursday, one of whom asked him, seemingly in reference to the president: “Do you feel like he’s a little bit of a drag?” “So to be honest with you, the numbers – when we did that convention – it dropped our numbers,” the candidate answered. “Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.” Paxton is running in the deep-red Lone Star State against Democratic challenger and state lawmaker James Talarico, who appears to stand a real chance of turning it blue, having performed impressively on the campaign trail and raised vastly more money than his scandal-blighted rival. Nick Maddux, a senior Paxton adviser, dismissed the audio when questioned by the Times, telling the newspaper: “This is more manipulated nonsense from The New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist. “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. “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.” Trump himself has insisted that the convention, held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on September 9 and 10, “really helped Ken Paxton.” “He was a big part of it,” the president said a few days after its conclusion. “The convention helped Ken Paxton a lot.” The candidate was certainly featured prominently but may not remember the occasion as fondly, given that Trump, who headlined both nights, could not resist cracking unkind jokes about his appearance. “He may not dress right,” the president said of Paxton. “He may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen, but you know what he is? He’s the greatest attorney general in America, and he deserves to be your next senator.” Tellingly, he added: “He’ll never speak to me again, but that’s OK.” Paxton was subsequently forced to laugh off Trump’s jibes, but he could be forgiven for considering them decidedly unhelpful. More constructively, the president did endorse Paxton during his acrimonious primary battle against incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn in May and has recently released $20 million from his MAGA Inc super PAC to help him see off Talarico. Trump’s two-day summit – which was most noteworthy for the president attracting accusations of bribery by promising voters he would send out $5,000 checks if Republicans held onto their majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate come November – was dogged by issues before it even got underway. It was reported beforehand that GOP representatives and senators were being charged exorbitant amounts to attend, leading many to make their excuses and stay away, claiming their time would be better spent in their districts. The organizers also realized too late that a broadcast of the convention would clash with the new NFL season’s opening fixtures and that the event would conclude a day before the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks were observed, when thoughts were likely to be elsewhere. When it did take place, the “Trumpapalooza” extravaganza was hit by reports of empty seating in the arena, glitches on the big screen behind the speakers and a bizarre debate over whether or not Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner had attempted to smack Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna on the rear as they passed each other. However, the convention’s real legacy might be that it provided a surprise boost to Democrats, rather than Republicans as intended. RealClearPolitics’ Generic Congressional Vote, which averages the results of other major polls, showed the opposition at 50.5 percent Tuesday with Republicans trailing at 42.1 percent – a steep increase from September 7, two days before the convention, when the Democrats were on 48.1 percent and the GOP on 42.3 percent. Another poll from The Hill/Emerson did find that 59 percent of conservatives said they were galvanized to vote because of the event – but so did 53 percent of liberals. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments