“When we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good,” Ken Paxton said, according to a report

NEED TO KNOW

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee for Senate, bemoaned to donors last week that his poll numbers were hampered by the Republican Party’s hastily organized midterm convention
• The diehard ally of President Donald Trump said Trump’s convention “dropped our numbers,” according to leaked audio given to The New York Times
• Paxton is fighting to avoid becoming the first Texas Republican to lose statewide to a Democrat since 1988

The Texas Republican who beat a longtime incumbent GOP senator in a contentious primary on the back of President Donald Trump’s endorsement is now complaining about the president’s involvement in the upcoming midterm elections, according to leaked audio obtained by The New York Times.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a diehard ally of Trump and a prominent figure in the MAGA movement, complained to donors last week that his poll numbers were hampered by the Republican Party’s hastily organized midterm convention in Dallas earlier this month, according to the Times.

“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,” Paxton told roughly a dozen conservative donors and lobbyists at an intimate Washington, D.C. gathering last week, according to the report.

An attendee at the fundraiser shared the audio with the Times, which PEOPLE could not independently verify.

PEOPLE reached out to the White House and Paxton’s campaign for additional comment.

“This is more manipulated nonsense from The New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist,” Nick Maddux, a senior adviser to Paxton, told the paper.

“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 said. “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.”

Paxton ousted Texas Sen. John Cornyn in a Republican primary runoff in May after Trump’s late endorsement put the MAGA loyalist over the top of a senator first elected in 2002. 

The state attorney general is fighting to avoid becoming the first Texas Republican to lose statewide to a Democrat since 1988. Independent public polls broadly show Talarico with a slight lead in a narrow race.

Trump’s approval ratings nationwide are hovering around 37%, with roughly 60% disapproving of his job performance, according to the Times’ polling average.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“We have to elect him. He’s really something special … I have to say this about Ken, it’s so insulting, and I hope he doesn’t get insulted. They said, ‘Sir, you can’t say that.’ I said, ‘I have to,’ ” Trump said during his remarks on the midterm convention’s opening night on Sept. 9.

“He may not dress right, 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?” the president continued. “He’s the greatest attorney general in America, and he deserves to be your next senator. I’m sorry, Ken.”

Despite endorsing him and professing a fondness for his politics, Trump has repeatedly spoken unfavorably about Paxton’s physical appearance and public speaking skills. 

The midterm convention was a rarity. Unlike presidential years, party conventions in midterm years have largely fallen by the wayside in modern U.S. politics. But Trump proposed the idea earlier this year, and organizers quickly put together a two-day convention in Dallas.

“I think the fact that we had such a successful convention really helped Ken Paxton,” Trump told reporters on Sept. 13. “He was a big part of it.”

“I think he’s tied or leading now,” the president continued. “I hear that the convention helped Ken Paxton a lot.”

#Leaked #Audio #Catches #Top #TrumpBacked #GOP #Candidate #Complaining #Midterm #Convention