President Donald Trump jokingly described Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton as “a pain in the ass” during his remarks in Denton, Texas, on Thursday — the latest in a long line of jabs he has leveled at his staunch ally who is running in a critical GOP race.
Trump praised Paxton’s loyalty, saying that when he faced criticism in the past, Paxton stood “by my side more than anyone.” Then he joked: “And I always have to remember that because he can be annoying sometimes. I’ll be honest.”
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President Donald Trump jokingly described Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton as “a pain in the ass” during his speech in Denton, Texas, on Thursday.
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President Donald Trump jokingly described Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton as “a pain in the ass” during his speech in Denton, Texas, on Thursday.
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Trump jokingly calls Paxton a “pain in the ass” at Texas event.
Trump insulted Paxton repeatedly in public remarks, even though he supported Paxton as a safer candidate in the Republican primary and generally sought to strengthen his campaign. He has mocked the way the Texas attorney general dresses and speaks, including at the GOP midterm convention, which was held in Paxton’s home state and focused heavily on him and his race.
“Some people may not like the way he dresses,” Trump said, adding, “I don’t.”
Paxton did not retaliate in any way — and Trump’s insults are often accompanied by praise for how Paxton does his job. But the New York Times published an audio recording Wednesday of Paxton privately complaining to conservative donors and lobbyists that the convention had done more harm than good.
“So, to be honest with you, the numbers – when we had this convention – brought our numbers down,” the Texas attorney general said. “Everyone’s numbers have dropped. Right now, yeah, it’s not good.”
Asked earlier Thursday by CNN’s Kristen Holmes whether he had spoken to Paxton following the audio leak, Trump responded: “No, I haven’t.” » When reporters asked him about the audio Wednesday afternoon at an event in the Oval Office, he said he hadn’t heard it.
“Is he here?” Trump said in Denton. “By the way, oh, he’s here. Good. I didn’t even know if he was there.”
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