In private remarks, Ken Paxton said Trump's midterm convention hurt his Senate campaign

Republican U.S. [KSAT 12]

Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton told a group of wealthy donors and conservative lobbyists at a fundraiser that a major political convention organized by President Donald Trump earlier this month damaged his electoral prospects, according to recordings obtained and released by The New York Times.

At the private event, when asked whether Trump had become a liability for his campaign, Paxton responded that participation in the Dallas gathering had weakened his standing with voters. "When we did that convention — it dropped our numbers," Paxton said in the recording. "Everybody's numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good." The Times did not specify when the remarks were made, though reporting indicates they occurred sometime in recent days.

The comments represent a sharp departure from Trump's own assessment of the event. The president told reporters earlier this month that the convention had been highly successful and directly benefited Paxton's candidacy. During his Dallas speech, Trump publicly teased Paxton about his appearance and speaking manner while simultaneously calling him the nation's "greatest attorney general." Trump has maintained a close alliance with Paxton, endorsing him during the Republican primary race against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and subsequently channeling campaign resources to help narrow Paxton's advertising deficit against Democratic opponent James Talarico.

Paxton currently faces an uphill battle in the general election. With early voting scheduled to begin within weeks, most public polls show him trailing Talarico, and Trump's own approval ratings in Texas have declined below 50 percent, according to researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. The Trump-backed convention was designed partly to energize Republican voters heading into the midterm elections by framing the contest as carrying national significance.

Paxton's campaign quickly dismissed the recordings as distorted. Nick Maddux, a senior adviser, characterized The Times' report as inaccurate and said internal polling data demonstrated that the candidate's position had strengthened since early September. "Every serious pollster will tell you that our numbers have improved," Maddux said in a written statement. He added that Paxton expected to finish the race strongly alongside Trump, who was scheduled to visit Texas later in the week.

The Texas Tribune noted it had not independently confirmed the Times' account of the private remarks.