Ken Paxton stated that his polling numbers and the numbers of other Republicans dropped after the Trump-led GOP midterm convention in Dallas.

Posted by Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov, Sep 30, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 1 contradict4 support2 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 90%

Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica TarlovSep 30, 2026

… They open with a bombshell recording obtained by the New York Times: Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate nominee in Texas and longtime Trump ally, is privately admitting that Trump may be hurting him and other Republicans politically. In the recording, Paxton says his numbers — and everyone else's — dropped after the recent Trump-led GOP “midterm convention” in Dallas. How bad is this for Paxton — and what does it mean for the Texas Senate race? Former special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, as Senate Republicans hoped to secure a public humiliation of Trump’s political …

27 claimsThe check →

Multiple tier1 and tier2 sources (Reuters, CNN, TPR and others quoting the NYT audio) confirm Paxton said 'it dropped our numbers' and 'everybody's numbers dropped' after the Trump-led midterm convention in Dallas, so the claim that he said his and other Republicans' numbers dropped is supported.

This claim is in the show notes, the publisher's own words. It counts against the post, once.

What we found

Supports. Reuters reports, citing the NYT audio, that Paxton said 'the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers' and that the convention hurt him and other Republicans.[1]

Supports. CNN quotes Paxton saying 'Everybody's numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good,' and notes the publicly available polling trended in the wrong direction for the GOP after the Dallas convention.[2]

Supports. TPR and Texas Standard report Paxton said the convention 'dropped our numbers' and that other GOP candidates' numbers also fell, with Texas Standard noting the Times confirmed the audio and the adviser did not deny Paxton was the speaker.[3][4]

Contradicts. Paxton senior adviser Nick Maddux called the report 'manipulated nonsense' and said the campaign's poll numbers had improved, but did not specifically deny the quoted words.[2][5]

Context. Reporting notes the recording's questioner was unidentified and the 'drag' reference is ambiguous, but Paxton's own statement that 'everybody's numbers dropped' is consistently reported.[6][7]