By VIRA Broadcasting Staff — Oct. 2, 2026
WASHINGTON — Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton was caught on leaked audio telling conservative donors that President Donald Trump’s Dallas midterm convention “dropped our numbers” in the Texas Senate race — a stunning admission from Trump’s own hand-picked “true MAGA Warrior,” revealed five weeks before the midterm elections.
The New York Times obtained the audio of Paxton speaking at a private Washington, D.C., fundraiser on Sept. 24, according to a Reuters report published Wednesday. When asked if Trump was “a little bit of a drag” on his campaign, Paxton answered bluntly, Reuters reported.
“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,” Paxton said, according to the audio obtained by the Times.
The fundraiser was hosted by Republican lobbyists Susan Hirschmann and Chris Brinson, Reuters reported. The audio was shared with the Times by an attendee who opposes Paxton’s candidacy; three people confirmed Paxton’s attendance at the event, according to Reuters.
The leak lands Paxton — who won the May GOP runoff against four-term Sen. John Cornyn with 63.8% of the vote after securing Trump’s endorsement — in a perilous position. Trump endorsed Paxton on May 19, calling him a “true MAGA Warrior,” Reuters reported. Paxton now faces Democrat James Talarico, whom Reuters described as a “rising star” fundraiser, in the Nov. 3 general election.
Polling paints a troubling picture for Paxton. An independent Marist poll had him trailing Talarico by 6 points, though Paxton’s campaign claims its internal polls show him up by 3, according to the Times of London and the Daily Caller.
Paxton’s senior adviser Nick Maddux dismissed the Times report as “more manipulated nonsense from the New York Times to create a story that doesn’t exist,” USA Today reported.
Trump, asked about Paxton’s remarks on Sept. 30, told reporters: “Well, I haven’t heard that.” He then claimed his Sept. 9–10 midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas drew “107 million views,” USA Today reported.
That viewership claim did not hold up to scrutiny. PolitiFact found the two NFL games airing during the convention drew 43.6 million combined viewers, compared with about 7 million for the convention across measured networks. The White House responded by citing social-media impressions instead, USA Today reported. Trump initially conceded “it’s possible that could be true” before walking the remark back.
CNN’s analysis of the first-ever midterm convention was blunt: “It’s official: Trump’s midterm convention was a bust.”
The leak is a loyalty earthquake for the MAGA movement — the candidate Trump personally lifted past a four-term incumbent caught on tape blaming Trump’s own convention for sinking his numbers, five weeks before Election Day.
Sources: The New York Times (original reporting, via Reuters); Reuters, “Texas US Senate candidate Paxton said Trump hurt Republicans, New York Times says,” Sept. 30, 2026; USA Today, “Donald Trump responds to Ken Paxton leaked audio on midterm convention,” Sept. 30, 2026; CNN, “It’s official: Trump’s midterm convention was a bust,” Sept. 30, 2026; The Times UK (Marist poll); Daily Caller.