<p class="wp-block-paragraph">President <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> stated he has not heard leaked audio of <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/ken-paxton/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ken Paxton</a>, the Republican <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/texas/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Texas</a> Senate nominee, expressing concerns that the Republican National Committee midterm convention did not improve his campaign against Democrat James Talarico.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Well, I haven’t heard that, but I can tell you that the convention was amazing, as you probably know,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday when asked about the audio. “We had 107 million views.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">According to an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/us/politics/ken-paxton-trump-midterm-convention.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">audio recording</a> reported by the <em>New York Times</em>, Paxton was heard telling donors and lobbyists that the convention negatively impacted his poll numbers. “So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers,” Paxton said. “Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump emphasized the viewership of the convention compared to the two NFL games that aired during the same period. “Think of this: We had over 100 million views. I think 107. The NFL had 25 million views, so we had four times what the NFL did,” said Trump.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump acknowledged that Paxton's comments might have some validity. Paxton is trailing Talarico by 3 points, according to <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/senate/general/2026/texas/talarico-vs-paxton" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aggregate survey data</a> from <em>RealClearPolling</em>. The GOP and aligned groups are expected to spend over $300 million supporting the Texas attorney general against Talarico, who is also a significant fundraiser.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“And you know, it’s possible that could be true. I don’t know if it’s possible, but other people were helped greatly,” he said. “This was a national convention, midterm convention, never been done before, and we went directly against the NFL.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/15/media/trump-gop-midterm-convention-nfl-tv-ratings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">According to</a> CNN, Trump’s primetime address reached 3 million viewers, while the NFL’s 2026-27 season kickoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots had over 25 million viewers.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4748462/ken-paxton-skips-jd-vance-rally-texas/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PAXTON ABSENT AS VANCE RALLIES IN TEXAS</a></strong></p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump also mentioned that the RNC is likely to hold another convention in the future. “I would imagine they do it again often. Somebody said it won’t do as well because I won’t be around, but I’ll be around in some form,” said Trump. “I don’t know what form I’m going to be around in. But … the convention, you know, just based on the views that it got, it … was the most-watched thing on television, and that included the NFL, which is pretty amazing.”</p>