Ken Paxton’s fourth leaked recording is likely to do even more damage than the first three

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Republican Senate campaign was struggling before the latest round of leaked audio recordings, but they have clearly made a bad situation worse.

The first example emerged a week ago, when The New York Times reported that the scandal-plagued candidate made some provocative comments to a group of conservative donors and lobbyists a week earlier. Referring to his party’s recent midterm convention in his home state, Paxton said, “So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”

The second soon followed. According to an audio recording obtained by Politico, Paxton also complained about party operatives from Washington running his campaign operation.

“I’ve never been in a race where I felt less control over the campaign and, like, what issues are going to matter because it’s all coming — you know — from D.C.,” the Texan said during a fundraising event. The candidate added, “I don’t control message or what we’re doing.”

The third in the series featured Paxton making behind-the-scenes excuses for his electoral difficulties.

“It’s the war, it’s gas prices … it’s over $6 a gallon for diesel,” he said. “People are feeling that pinch. … That’s by far our biggest problem, and I think that’s why we’re having a hard time with numbers.”

But while the first three leaks put Paxton at odds with his fellow Republicans, the fourth leak puts him at odds with voters. The Texas Tribune reported:

In response to a question about reducing the federal deficit, Paxton said: “Making some reasonable cuts to mandatory spending — you’re gonna have to do it. Or there is no solution. That’s just the reality. We have to suck it up.” […]

Paxton added, “from Republican presidents to Democrats, we’ve been spending like crazy and no one seems to care. It’s gonna bankrupt us. It’s just a matter of time.”

Just so we’re all clear, most mandatory federal spending goes to the nation’s three largest social insurance programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The remainder goes to other priorities, such as food benefits, unemployment insurance and disability benefits.

With 26 days remaining before Election Day, voters in Texas are now learning that Paxton intends to make cuts to these programs — cuts he has not talked about publicly as part of his campaign message. And, as if Americans haven’t already struggled enough of late, they’re going to have to, as the Texas Republican put it, “suck it up.”

Paxton later clarified to The Texas Tribune that he would protect Social Security if elected, but that only raised additional questions about the scale of the cuts he has in mind to programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Recent polling suggests Paxton is trailing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in their closely watched race. The latest leaked audio recording almost certainly won’t help.

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