Reporter Asks Trump if He ‘Regrets’ Endorsing Ken Paxton Following Leaked Audio

President Donald Trump stood behind his endorsement of Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton following leaked audio of the candidate blaming his campaign’s struggles on the ongoing Iran war.

While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump was asked whether he “regrets” endorsing Paxton following the release of the leaked audio of Paxton speaking with donors.

Trump responded by praising Paxton as the “best attorney general in the country.” Paxton became Texas attorney general in 2015.

“No, no, no. Not at all. He was a great attorney general. I think he’ll be a great senator. Ken Paxton was the best, or certainly one of the few best, but the best attorney general in the whole country. And no, I would have no regrets at all,” Trump said about Paxton.

Paxton is in a race against Democrat James Talarico, who has been narrowly leading him in recent polling, making Democrats excited over the prospect of flipping the Texas seat blue. Paxton won a primary against Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) after Trump backed him over Cornyn, who has held the seat for more than 20 years.

Critics have questioned the wisdom of this decision, especially considering Paxton’s history of controversy. Trump has mocked Paxton in public at events leading up to the midterm elections.

Trump has criticized the way Paxton dresses and at a rally this month, he called the candidate a “pain in the a*s.”

In the leaked audio published by Axios, Paxton explained why he’s “having a hard time with numbers” in his race. He also reportedly said his numbers dropped after Trump’s Dallas convention.

“It’s not tariffs… it’s the war, it’s gas prices, it’s diesel, over $6 per gallon… people are feeling the pinch,” he said, adding, “That’s probably the biggest problem and that pushed out the food prices and everything else… So that’s by far our biggest problem.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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