KAKISTOCRACY (noun) — Government by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous people.
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Trump Meets With Convicted Election Official to Discuss “The Plans” as Republicans Face Midterm Bloodbath — article image
Trump's Approval Rating Hits Record Low as Voters Sour on His Presidency — article image
Texas Wasn't Supposed to Be Competitive. Now Ken Paxton Is Trailing and Admits He Doesn't Control His Own Campaign. — article image
Democrats Lead in Three Republican-Held Senate Seats as 2026 Map Expands Deep Into Trump Country — article image
Trump Backs Down on Taxpayer-Funded Ads After Bipartisan Backlash — article image
JD Vance Warns Democrats Will Make Energy Prices ‘Skyrocket.’ Has He Looked at a Gas Station Lately? — article image
Trump Wants Alabama Bridge Named After Him — But Biden's Infrastructure Law Helped Pay for It — article image
Trump's Poll Numbers Collapse as Americans Blame Him for High Prices — article image
Taxpayers Are Paying Millions for Government Ads Praising Donald Trump — article image
Trump Underwater in 39 States as Midterm Elections Approach — article image
How Is That Possible?’ Fox Host Stunned as Democrat Leads Texas Senate Poll — article image
Empty Seats Greet Trump at Alabama Rally as Crowd Problems Continue — article image
# Leaked Recording Exposes Republican Anxiety Over Trump Ahead of Midterms  **October 3, 2026**  For years, Republican candidates have publicly embraced Donald Trump, sought his endorsement and competed to demonstrate their loyalty to the president.  But a leaked recording from Texas offers a glimpse of a very different conversation taking place behind closed doors.  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton—the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, a longtime Trump ally and a candidate whose primary victory was aided by Trump's endorsement—was secretly recorded telling donors that Republicans' polling numbers fell after Trump's highly publicized midterm convention in Dallas.  The gathering was specifically designed to help Republican candidates.  According to Paxton, it did the opposite.  "So to be honest with you, the numbers—when we did that convention—it dropped our numbers," Paxton said on the recording.  Then he added:  **"Everybody's numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good."**  For Republicans approaching a difficult midterm election, those may be some of the most revealing words spoken during the campaign.  ## A Private Conversation Republicans Weren't Supposed to Hear  The recording reportedly came from a private gathering of conservative donors and lobbyists.  An unidentified person can be heard asking Paxton:  "Do you feel like he's a little bit of a drag?"  There is an important qualification.  The audio does not clearly establish whom the questioner meant by "he."  It would therefore go beyond the evidence to claim that Paxton explicitly called Trump himself a political drag.  But Paxton's response immediately turned to Trump's Dallas convention and its effect on Republican polling.  "When we did that convention," Paxton said, "it dropped our numbers."  And not merely his own.  "Everybody's numbers dropped."  The New York Times reported that attendees corroborated Paxton's presence and comments. Reuters reported on the recording but said it had not independently authenticated the audio.  Paxton's campaign has attacked the story.  Senior adviser Nick Maddux called it "manipulated nonsense" and argued that the campaign's internal polling showed Paxton leading Democratic nominee James Talarico.  The campaign has not publicly demonstrated that Paxton's quoted remarks themselves were digitally altered.  ## The Convention Was Supposed to Help Republicans  That makes Paxton's assessment particularly striking.  Trump's two-night Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas was created to energize Republican voters heading into November.  It was centered overwhelmingly around Trump.  His image appeared throughout the arena.  Speakers repeatedly praised his presidency.  Trump himself delivered a lengthy address and urged supporters to approach the midterms as though he personally were on the ballot.  The president later described the event as an enormous success.  But the visual picture was more complicated.  Despite Trump's descriptions of a packed event, news organizations documented thousands of empty seats, including large portions of the arena's upper level.  And now one of the Republican candidates the convention was intended to help has privately said that polling declined afterward.  ## Paxton Isn't a Never-Trumper  That distinction matters.  This isn't criticism coming from a retiring Republican senator, a former Trump official promoting a book or a moderate Republican who broke with the MAGA movement years ago.  This is Ken Paxton.  Trump endorsed Paxton against longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn.  Paxton defeated the four-term senator and became the Republican nominee.  Trump's political operation has subsequently invested heavily in helping Paxton win the general election.  Paxton has spent years closely aligned with Trump and the MAGA movement.  That's precisely why his private comments are notable.  Publicly, Trump remains enormously influential inside the Republican Party.  Privately, one of his closest political allies appears concerned that a major Trump-centered campaign event hurt Republican candidates.  ## Trump Says the Convention Was ‘Amazing’  Trump offered a completely different assessment when reporters asked him about Paxton's remarks.  The president said he hadn't heard about the comments.  "But I can tell you that the convention was amazing," Trump responded.  Trump pointed to television viewership and argued that the event helped other Republican candidates.  Vice President JD Vance similarly dismissed the controversy, saying he wasn't particularly concerned about something Paxton said during an off-the-record conversation with a donor.  The White House's message was straightforward:  The convention was successful.  Paxton's private assessment was equally straightforward:  Their numbers went down.  Both statements cannot independently establish what actually caused any movement in polling. Changes in voter support can result from numerous events, and the leaked recording itself doesn't prove the Dallas convention caused Republican numbers to fall.  But it does establish something politically significant:  **Paxton believed it did.**  ## Texas Wasn't Supposed to Be This Difficult  The anxiety surrounding Paxton's campaign is understandable.  Texas hasn't elected a Democrat statewide since 1994.  Trump carried the state comfortably in 2024.  Yet Paxton is now locked in a competitive Senate contest with Democrat James Talarico.  Recent independent polls have shown Talarico competitive with or ahead of Paxton, although surveys differ and Paxton's campaign has released internal polling showing the Republican ahead.  A recent Fox News poll found Talarico leading Paxton **51% to 49% among likely voters**, a two-point difference within that poll's margin of error.  Among all registered voters, Talarico's advantage was larger.  The result was surprising enough that Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt reacted on air by asking:  **"How is that possible?"**  Paxton's leaked remarks may provide at least part of his own answer.  He believes the Republican convention hurt.  ## Trump's Own Numbers Have Deteriorated  The controversy also arrives amid broader evidence of weakening public approval for the president.  Recent national surveys have consistently shown Trump underwater.  A Reuters/Ipsos poll put Trump's approval at 32%.  State-level polling has also shown substantial deterioration since the beginning of his second term, including in states he carried in 2024.  That doesn't mean Trump is necessarily responsible for every Republican candidate struggling this year.  Candidates have their own records, opponents and local political environments.  Paxton himself is a polarizing political figure whose favorability numbers present challenges independent of Trump.  But presidents inevitably shape the political environment surrounding midterm elections.  Republican candidates have to decide how closely to attach themselves to a president who remains extremely popular with much of their party's base but significantly less popular with the electorate overall.  That creates a difficult calculation.  They need Trump's voters.  They may also need voters who don't like Trump.  ## Trump Calls Paxton ‘A Pain in the Ass’  The relationship became even more awkward after the recording emerged.  Trump traveled to Texas to campaign for Paxton.  During an appearance in Denton, Trump began talking about the Republican nominee.  "He's a pain in the ass sometimes," Trump joked.  Then Trump apparently realized Paxton was sitting in the audience.  "Oh, he's here?"  Trump quickly shifted back to praise, calling Paxton the country's greatest attorney general and reaffirming his support for the Republican nominee.  The exchange was humorous.  But the timing was extraordinary.  Days earlier, Paxton had privately complained that Republican polling declined after Trump's convention.  Now Trump was publicly campaigning for him while joking about his irritation with the candidate.  ## Public Loyalty, Private Anxiety  None of this demonstrates that Republicans have collectively abandoned Trump.  They clearly haven't.  Trump remains the dominant figure inside the Republican Party, Republican candidates continue seeking his support and party leaders continue publicly defending him.  Nor does Paxton's leaked conversation prove that Trump will hurt Republicans in November.  Election results will answer that question.  But the recording exposes something considerably more subtle.  There is a difference between the Republican Party's public presentation of Trump and the private calculations individual candidates must make about him.  Publicly, Trump's convention was "amazing."  Privately, Paxton said:  **"It dropped our numbers."**  Publicly, Republicans continue presenting Trump as their greatest political asset.  Privately, a Republican Senate nominee is examining polling and worrying about what happened after the president came to help.  That doesn't mean Republicans are "done with Trump."  It does mean that, with the midterms approaching and Trump's approval ratings substantially underwater, at least some Republicans are confronting a question that was once almost unthinkable inside the MAGA-era GOP:  **What happens when Donald Trump's ability to energize Republican voters collides with his ability to energize voters who oppose him?** — article image
Trump Is Using Taxpayer Money to Air Campaign-Style Ads About Himself — article image
Trump Said He Would Save the Kennedy Center. Nineteen Months Later, It Is in Financial Crisis. — article image
Something Is Happening in Texas: Trump’s Coalition Is Showing Serious Cracks — article image
Jack Smith Probe Swept Up Financial Records of Thousands of Trump Donors and Journalists’ Communications — article image
Republicans Have a Midterm Problem: Majority of Voters Now Want Democrats to Control the House — article image
Trump’s Ambassador to Greece Faces Scrutiny Over Lobbyist, Private Jets and Energy Deals — article image
Kushner’s Billion-Dollar Israel Investment Raises Questions as He Helps Shape Trump’s Middle East Policy — article image
Seven Months Into the Iran War, the Strait of Hormuz Is Sending an Ominous Message — article image
Trump Family Business Empire Faces Scrutiny Over Billions in Government Deals — article image
After DOGE’s Troubled Record, Hegseth Brings Elon Musk Back to Help Shape the Future of the U.S. Military — article image
Trump’s Iran War Has Cost $45 Billion — But Congress Won’t Settle the Bill Until After the Election — article image
Donald Trump Is Putting Himself in TV Ads — And You're Paying for Them — article image
Trump Tried to Gerrymander His Way Through the Midterms. It May Be Backfiring. — article image
Even Fox News Can't Hide How Bad Things Have Gotten for Donald Trump — article image
Five Trump-Era Deals Congress May Put May Use Against Trump — article image
Jack Smith to Congress: “President Trump Engaged in Serious Crimes Against Our Nation” — article image
Hegseth Faces Deadline to Explain Billions in Iran War Spending — Including $1.2 Billion for Unspecified “Administration Priorities” — article image
Polls Point to a Massive Blue Wave as Republicans Lose Ground Nationwide — article image
We Were Promised the Epstein Files. So Why Haven't We Seen All of Them? — article image
# Election-Integrity Candidate Convicted of Election Fraud — and She's Far From the First Republican Caught Doing It — article image
Taxpayers Are Paying for Pro-Trump TV Ads — Now Questions of Legality Are Growing — article image
Trump Hits 37% Approval as Republicans Confront a Midterm Warning Sign — article image
Texas Republican Breaks With His Party: ‘I’ll Never Vote for Ken Paxton’ — article image
Peter Thiel Blasts Trump’s Loyalty-First White House: ‘Not Very Smart, But Very Loyal’ — article image
Trump's Support Is Cracking in the Places That Put Him Back in the White House — article image
Paul LePage Backed Trump’s Immigration Crackdown. Then ICE Came for His Own Family. — article image
Trump Calls Venezuela Agreement the “Biggest Oil Deal in World History.” The Reality Is Far More Complicated — article image
Lauren Boebert Faces Explosive Ethics Allegations — Including Affairs With Staff and a $200,000 Payment — article image
Trump's Poll Numbers Are Collapsing — And Voters Now See Republicans as the Party of the Elite — article image
Trump's War on Obamacare Is Driving Americans Off Their Health Insurance — article image
Trump Promised to Eliminate the $19 Trillion National Debt. It Has Now Surpassed $40 Trillion — article image
Winter Is Coming — And Trump’s Oil Crisis Is About to Get Much Harder to Hide — article image
rump Moves to Cancel Nearly $1 Billion Congress Already Approved — article image
Trump Turns on Republican Congresswoman After She Challenges His Immigration Crackdown — article image
Trump Rejects Iran’s Seven-Day Proposal After Leading U.S. Into War — article image
26 Articles of Impeachment: Democrat Lays Out a Sweeping Case Against Trump — article image
The Iran War Is Becoming a Midterm Problem Republicans Can’t Ignore — article image
Trump’s Iran War Is Now Costing American Households an Estimated $1,760 — article image
Trump-Aligned Congressman Bars Reporter From Campaign Event After Critical Coverage — article image
Trump’s Sons Invested in Defense Companies. Those Companies Have Landed Billions in Government Business. — article image
Democrats Sue to Keep Armed Federal Agents Away From Polling Places — article image
Trump Won Over Latino Voters. Now Some Say They Feel Betrayed. — article image
Trump’s Immigration Detention Push Wasted Millions Before ICE Even Had a Plan — article image
Congress Is Coming Back for the Epstein Files—Again — article image
Tucker Carlson Calls for Trump’s Cabinet to Remove Him Under the 25th Amendment — article image
California's Supreme Court Just Drew a Line Around the Ballot Box — article image
Kevin Kiley Wants a TV Station to Pull an Ad Linking Him to Trump — article image
The Senate Had Another Chance to Rein In Trump's Iran War. It Failed by One Vote. — article image
Tommy Tuberville Seems to Have Found Another Group of Americans to Fear — article image
A Small Nebraska Town Lost Its Only Medical Clinic Due To Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Loomed — article image
Trump Won Over Young Men. Now Some of His Biggest 2024 Gains Are Unraveling — article image
Lauren Boebert Faces Explosive Staff-Affair With A Woman — article image
Republican Candidates Put Distance Between Themselves and Trump as Midterm Pressure Builds — article image
Trump DOJ Continues To Block Releasing Epstein Files — article image
The Voters Who Put Trump Back in the White House Are Starting to Walk Away — article image
Republican Ashley Hinson Suddenly Wants the Iran War to End — After Repeatedly Voting Against Efforts to End U.S. Involvement — article image
Trump Said He Could Eliminate the $19 Trillion National Debt. It Has Now Surpassed $40 Trillion — article image
Trump EPA Ordered to Restore $7 Billion Solar Program After Judge Rules Cancellation Illegal — article image
Don Jr.’s Russian Wedding Controversy Escalates as Republican Senator Calls for Subpoena — article image
Republican Senator Calls for Trump Jr. Subpoena as Questions Grow Over Trump Family Business Empire — article image
Trump Turns to Russia-Aligned Belarus for Fertilizer as His Fight With Canada Continues — article image
Trump Approval Falls to 32% — the Lowest of His Political Career — article image
Election Season Is Here — So Where Is Melania Trump? — article image
The Midterm Map Is Turning Blue — And Republicans Are Running Out of Places to Hide — article image
Maddest I’ve Seen Farmers in a Long Time’: Trump’s Beef Policy Sparks Revolt in Farm Country — article image
The Clock Is Ticking on Trump’s Power — And Washington Knows It — article image
John Kennedy Says Trump Will End the Iran War in Six Months — Without Explaining How — article image
Trump Announces an ‘AI Force’ — Apparently Before His Own Advisers Knew What It Was — article image
Trump Wants More White House Control Over Billions in Medical Research Funding — article image
Trump Approval Crashes Into the 20s in New National Poll — article image
Major MAGA Festival Canceled After Just Six People Buy $1,000 VIP Tickets — article image
Dark-Money Networks Paid Millions to Law Firm Packed With Clarence Thomas’ Former Clerks — article image
“Doctors Sound New Alarms About Trump’s Mental Fitness — While White House Says He’s in ‘Excellent Health’” — article image
Trump’s Very Bad Week: Courts, Congress, the Fed and the Economy All Delivered Setbacks — article image
House Goes Home Early as One of the Least Productive Congresses in Modern History Leaves Work Unfinished — article image
Republican María Salazar Warns Trump: Hispanic Voters Who Put You in the White House ‘Feel Betrayed’ — article image
Judge Blocks Another Attempt to Put Trump’s Name on the Kennedy Center — article image
Trump Demands Lower Interest Rates. His Own Fed Chair Just Voted to Raise Them. — article image
Trump Pardoned the 'QAnon Shaman.' Now He Doesn't Even Support Trump. — article image
Trump-Backed Ken Paxton Says He’s Campaigning in “Cyprus.” He Meant Texas. — article image
Trump Lashes Out at His Own Supreme Court Appointees After Mail-Ballot Defeat — article image
Trump’s Policies Are Creating a Dangerous Midterm Environment for Republicans — article image
Lauren Boebert Faces Ethics Complaint Alleging Sexual Relationships With Congressional Staffers — article image
Trump Moves to Put Political Appointees Between Scientists and NIH Research Money — article image
The Iran War Has Already Cost the U.S. at Least $43.6 Billion — article image
Republican Congressman Files Eight Articles of Impeachment Against Pete Hegseth — article image
House Votes for Third Time to End Trump’s Iran War — article image
The Kennedy Center Was Built to Honor John F. Kennedy. Why Is Donald Trump Fighting to Put His Name on It? — article image
Trump Administration Prepares Sweeping Sanctions Against the International Criminal Court — article image
Court Tells Trump He Can't Build His White House Ballroom Without Congress — article image
Trump Takes His Culture War to the Smithsonian — article image
Trump Launches International Campaign Against the International Criminal Court — article image
Whistleblower Who Exposed Howard Lutnick’s Epstein Connectionsn Mysteriously Dies — article image
Marjorie Taylor Greene Says MAGA Is Dead — And Blames Donald Trump — article image
Trump Orders Pentagon to Find Money to Pay Troops During Republican Shutdown — article image
Federal Government Shuts Down as Trump Begins Second-Term Funding Battle — article image
Trump Turns October 7 Memorial Into Political Attack on Democrats — article image
Jack Smith's 165-Page Filing Reveals the Election Case Against Trump — article image
Jack Smith’s 165-Page Filing Reveals New Evidence in Trump Election Case — article image
Trump Fights Release of Jack Smith’s Evidence in January 6 Case — article image
House Republicans Descend Into Chaos After McCarthy’s Ouster — article image
rump Attacks Judge's Clerk — and Gets Hit With a Gag Order — article image
January 6 Committee Votes Unanimously to Subpoena Donald Trump — article image
Trump Asks Supreme Court to Intervene in Mar-a-Lago Documents Case — article image
National Archives Records Detail Trump's Failure to Return Government Documents — article image
Steve Bannon Defies January 6 Subpoena — Beginning a Fight That Would Eventually Send Him to Prison — article image
January 6 Committee Subpoenas “Stop the Steal” Organizers — article image
Senate Report Details Trump's Pressure Campaign Against the Justice Department — article image
Trump Tells Former Aides Not to Cooperate With January 6 Investigation — article image
With Americans Struggling, Trump Halts COVID Relief Talks — Then Reverses Course Hours Later — article image
Impeachment Investigators Subpoena Pentagon and White House Budget Office — article image
Second Ukraine Whistleblower Emerges as Trump Impeachment Inquiry Deepens — article image
Trump Defends Calls for Foreign Governments to Investigate Biden as Impeachment Inquiry Intensifies — article image
Mike Pence Drawn Deeper Into Ukraine Impeachment Investigation — article image
House Impeachment Investigators Subpoena the Trump White House — article image
Explosive Ukraine Text Messages Become Public — article image
Ukraine Text Messages Reveal Alarm Over Withholding Aid for Political Campaign — article image
White House Faces Subpoena as Trump’s Ukraine Scandal Deepens — article image
Trump Administration Pushes Back as Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Intensifies — article image
Trump Takes Kim Jong Un “At His Word” Over Otto Warmbier’s Death — article image
Michael Cohen Turns on Trump Before Congress — article image
Congress Wouldn't Give Trump the Wall Money He Wanted. He Declared a National Emergency Instead. — article image
Trump Takes His Border-Wall Campaign to El Paso — and Doubles Down on a False Crime Story — article image
After a 35-Day Shutdown, Trump Uses State of the Union to Demand His Wall Again — article image
Trump Uses Venezuela’s Crisis to Launch a Broader Attack on Socialism — article image
Trump Begins U.S. Withdrawal From Landmark Nuclear Arms Treaty — article image
Trump Defends Accused Sexual Preditor Kavanaugh For Supreme Court Pick — article image
Kavanaugh Confirmed to Supreme Court as Women Fear for Reproductive Rights — article image
Kavanaugh Confirmation Battle Reaches Its Final Stage — article image
FBI Delivers Kavanaugh Investigation to Trump White House — article image
Trump Mocks Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony as Crowd Cheers — article image
Andrew McCabe Fired Days Before Retirement as Trump's Fight With the FBI Intensifies — article image
Rex Tillerson Is Out as Trump Shakes Up His National Security Team — article image
Trump Suggests Democrats Who Didn't Applaud Him Were “Treasonous” — article image
Trump Releases Controversial Nunes Memo as Battle Over Russia Investigation Intensifies — article image
Trump Uses First State of the Union to Lay Out His “America First” Agenda — article image
Government Shuts Down on the First Anniversary of Trump’s Presidency — article image
Trump Signs Sweeping Tax Law With Permanent Corporate Tax Cut — article image
Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's Capital and Orders Embassy Move — article image
Trump Uses “Pocahontas” Attack During Ceremony Honoring Navajo Code Talkers — article image
Trump Again Questions U.S. Intelligence While Discussing Putin's Russia Denials — article image
Thousands of JFK Assassination Records Released — But Some Secrets Remain — article image
Trump's Travel Ban Hits the Courts — Again — article image
Trump Refuses to Certify the Iran Nuclear Deal — article image
After Repeal Fails, Trump Ends Obamacare Insurance Payments — article image
Trump Moves Toward Decertifying the Iran Nuclear Deal — article image
Trump Refuses to Discuss Gun Violence After Las Vegas Massacre — article image
Trump Visits Devastated Puerto Rico as Paper-Towel Moment Comes to Define the Trip — article image
Trump Escalates the NFL Anthem Fight From the Presidential Podium — article image
Trump Administration Moves to End DACA, Putting Dreamers’ Future in Doubt — article image
Republican Effort to Repeal Obamacare Fails Again in the Senate — article image
Donald Trump Jr.’s Trump Tower Meeting With Russians Is Exposed — article image
Trump’s Second Travel Ban Suffers Another Court Defeat — article image
James Comey Takes His Case Against Trump Before the American Public — article image
Robert Mueller Appointed Special Counsel to Take Over Russia Investigation — article image
Trump Raises the Possibility of Secret Comey Tapes — Then Keeps Washington Guessing — article image
Trump Launches First Direct U.S. Military Strike Against Assad’s Syria — article image
Trump's First Attempt to Repeal Obamacare Collapses Without a Vote — article image
FBI Director Confirms Investigation Into Trump Campaign's Russia Connections — article image
Senate Republicans Cheat to Put Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court — article image
Trump Accuses Obama of Wiretapping Trump Tower — Without Evidence — article image
Trump Administration Withdraws Federal Guidance on Transgender Students — article image
Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Sally Yates After She Refuses to Defend Travel Ban — article image
Trump Claims Millions Voted Illegally — Without Any Evidence — article image
Trump Pulls the United States Out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership — article image
Trump Begins Rolling Back Post-Financial-Crisis Regulations — article image
The World Wakes Up to President Trump — article image
Eleven Days Before the Election: Comey Drops a Bombshell Into the 2016 Campaign — article image
At Gettysburg, Trump Promises to Sue the Women Accusing Him of Sexual Misconduct — article image
Trump’s $916 Million Loss Raises Questions About Years Without Federal Income Taxes — article image
Trump’s $916 Million Loss Raises Questions About Years Without Federal Income Taxes — article image
Trump Attacks the U.S. Intelligence Community Over Russia — article image
Second Amendment People, Maybe There Is”: Trump Remark Sparks Furor Over Hillary Clinton — article image
Trump Attacks Judge Gonzalo Curiel Over His Mexican Heritage — article image
This Is Really Happening: America Realizes Donald Trump Could Actually Win — article image
Trump Wins New Hampshire — And the Political Establishment Realizes This Is No Joke — article image
Trump Loses Iowa: The First Votes of 2016 Deliver an Upset — article image
Trump vs. Megyn Kelly: The Debate Fight That Became a Campaign War — article image
I Like People That Weren’t Captured”: Trump Attacks John McCain’s War Record — article image
Everyone Thought Donald Trump Was a Joke. Then He Started Taking Over the Republican Race. — article image