KAKISTOCRACY (noun) — Government by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous people.
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Democrats

139 articles tagged “Democrats”.

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
Taxpayers Are Paying Millions for Government Ads Praising Donald Trump — article image
Steve Hilton Is Losing Badly, So His Campaign Is Getting Weird — article image
Trump Heads to Ohio Rally as 1,400 Truck Workers Lose Their Jobs — 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
Trump Gives 24-Year-Old Reporter a White House Press Job Despite Thin Résumé — 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
Something Is Happening in Texas: Trump’s Coalition Is Showing Serious Cracks — 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
Trump Family Business Empire Faces Scrutiny Over Billions in Government Deals — 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
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
# 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
Trump's Poll Numbers Are Collapsing — And Voters Now See Republicans as the Party of the Elite — article image
Trump Promised to Eliminate the $19 Trillion National Debt. It Has Now Surpassed $40 Trillion — 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
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 Support Is Shrinking—Even Among Republicans — article image
Trump’s Sons Invested in Defense Companies. Those Companies Have Landed Billions in Government Business. — article image
Melania Trump Says Her Childhood Under Communism Was ‘Beautiful’ — 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
ox News Poll: 63% of Voters Say Trump Has Made the Economy Worse — 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
Trump Won Over Young Men. Now Some of His Biggest 2024 Gains Are Unraveling — article image
Joe Rogan Helped Trump Win. Now He Says What Voters Were Sold Hasn't Worked Out — article image
Republican Candidates Put Distance Between Themselves and Trump as Midterm Pressure Builds — article image
The Voters Who Put Trump Back in the White House Are Starting to Walk Away — article image
Trump’s Iran War Is Losing Republicans — New Poll Shows Support Cracking Inside His Own Party — 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
Don Jr.’s Russian Wedding Controversy Escalates as Republican Senator Calls for Subpoena — article image
Trump Turns to Russia-Aligned Belarus for Fertilizer as His Fight With Canada Continues — article image
The Midterm Map Is Turning Blue — And Republicans Are Running Out of Places to Hide — article image
The Clock Is Ticking on Trump’s Power — And Washington Knows It — article image
Trump Heads to the United Nations With America’s Traditional Alliances Under Strain — article image
Trump Approval Crashes Into the 20s in New National Poll — article image
Greg Abbott Is Losing to a Democrat in Texas — New Poll Puts Hinojosa Ahead by 4 — 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
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
Trump Keeps Telling Americans the Economy Is Great. Voters Aren’t Buying It. — article image
Trump Moves to Put Political Appointees Between Scientists and NIH Research Money — 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
Trump Launches International Campaign Against the International Criminal Court — article image
Marjorie Taylor Greene Says MAGA Is Dead — And Blames Donald Trump — article image
Federal Government Shuts Down as Trump Begins Second-Term Funding Battle — article image
Trump Civil Fraud Trial Enters Fourth Day After Judge Finds Years of False Financial Statements — article image
Trump Returns to Court for Day Two of New York Civil Fraud Trial — article image
rump Attacks Judge's Clerk — and Gets Hit With a Gag Order — article image
Trump Walks Into Court as His New York Civil Fraud Trial Begins — article image
Trump Fires FBI Director James Comey as Russia Investigation Intensifies — article image
Chris Christie Hospitalized With COVID as Virus Tears Through Trump's Inner Circle — article image
The White House COVID Outbreak Explodes — article image
Trump Tests Positive for COVID-19 as Virus Reaches the President — article image
COVID Reaches the White House as Trump Campaign Continues Traveling — 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
Trump Publicly Calls on China to Investigate the Bidens — 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
Congress Wouldn't Give Trump the Wall Money He Wanted. He Declared a National Emergency Instead. — 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 Holds MAGA Rally as Hurricane Michael Devastates Florida — 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
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’s “Shithole Countries” Remark Ignites International Backlash — article image
“Very Stable Genius”: Trump Erupts as *Fire and Fury* Rocks the White House — 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
Mueller Investigation Produces Its First Charges as Manafort Is Indicted — article image
After Repeal Fails, Trump Ends Obamacare Insurance Payments — article image
As Puerto Rico Suffers, Trump’s Feud With San Juan’s Mayor Overshadows Hurricane Response — article image
As Puerto Rico Struggles After Maria, Trump Turns His Fire on the Island’s Leaders — 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
Trump Turns a Boy Scout Jamboree Speech Into a Nightmare Political Rally — article image
Donald Trump Jr.’s Trump Tower Meeting With Russians Is Exposed — article image
Trump Meets Putin Face-to-Face for the First Time — article image
Trump's First Attempt to Repeal Obamacare Collapses Without a Vote — article image
Senate Republicans Cheat to Put Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court — article image
Trump Claims Millions Voted Illegally — Without Any Evidence — article image
.S. Intelligence Concludes Putin Ordered Campaign to Influence the 2016 Election — article image
Trump Takes an Unprecedented Call From Taiwan — And Immediately Raises Questions About U.S. China Policy — 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 Gets Booed at the Al Smith Dinner as a Night of Political Humor Turns Bitter — article image
“I’ll Keep You in Suspense”: Trump Refuses to Promise He’ll Accept the Election Results — article image
U.S. Government Publicly Blames Russia for Election Hacking — article image
Trump Live-Tweets the Pence–Kaine Vice Presidential Debate — article image
Trump’s $916 Million Tax Loss Explodes Into a Campaign Crisis — article image
After Years of Birther Claims, Trump Finally Admits Obama Was Born in the United States — article image
Trump Attacks the U.S. Intelligence Community Over Russia — article image
“Russia, If You’re Listening”: Trump Publicly Calls for Moscow to Find Clinton’s Emails — article image
Trump Feuds With Gold Star Parents After Khizr Khan Challenges Him With the Constitution — article image
Melania Trump’s Convention Speech Echoes Michelle Obama — and Creates an Opening-Night Distraction — article image
This Is Really Happening: America Realizes Donald Trump Could Actually Win — article image
Trump vs. Megyn Kelly: The Debate Fight That Became a Campaign War — article image