- Paxton, the Texas attorney general, was speaking to donors and lobbyists at a closed-door fundraiser in Washington, DC. The audio was provided to Axios by an individual, granted anonymity because it was a private event, who was present at the meeting and who opposes Paxton.
- President Trump is expected to meet with Paxton in San Antonio on Wednesday.
Driving the news: Asked by a participant what issues were “hanging around” his campaign, Paxton replied: “It’s not tariffs. … It’s war, it’s gas prices, it’s diesel,” according to an audio file obtained by Axios.
- “When the price of diesel goes above $6 a gallon…people feel the effects,” he continued, adding that the rising cost of fuel “drives up the prices of food and everything else.”
- The Republican candidate said affordability is “by far our biggest problem” and “the reason we struggle with the numbers.”
Paxton pointed out to his tax cut plan – which includes new housing and health care deductions and an expansion of the child tax credit – as his proposed affordability remedy.
- “I’m just trying to find ways to help people. That’s the only way: I can propose legislation,” he said.
- When one participant asserted that Paxton “can’t stop the war,” the candidate responded “fine” and said he had “no control over gas prices.”
- “So many factors in this federal race are out of control. I don’t make the decisions, and I don’t know what’s behind some decisions,” he added.
What they say: “This is not a story. The attorney general said what every Texan already knows: Gas and diesel prices are too high and hard-working Texans are struggling at the pump and at the grocery store,” a Paxton campaign official told Axios.
- “President Trump is doing everything he can to lower prices, and Ken Paxton is going to Washington to help by putting money back in the pockets of families.”
Between the lines: Paxton said at the same meeting that Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas “drew our numbers down” and that control of the campaign “came entirely…from Washington, D.C.” according to separate audio obtained by The New York Times and Politico.
State of play: Paxton faces Democratic Rep. James Talarico after unseating Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a primary runoff in May.
- Polls in the race largely show Talarico narrowly leading. He would be the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in Texas since the 1980s.
- Paxton has been one of Trump’s most loyal allies for years. Trump returned the favor in the primary by supporting Paxton despite calls from Senate Republicans for him to support Cornyn.
Listen to the audio:
Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
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