Ken Paxton Heard In Leaked Audio Blaming Iran War For Struggling Senate Run After Publicly Defending US Involvement

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton admitted in leaked audio released Wednesday that the Iran war was negatively impacting his Senate campaign after having previously defended U.S. involvement.

Paxton told donors and lobbyists during a September meeting that the war and high gas prices were his campaign’s “biggest problem” ahead of the November election, although he previously stated that President Donald Trump was rightly preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Axios first reported. Affordability remained a top priority for voters, who were subjected to high food and energy prices after the conflict began.

One donor asked Paxton what was “dragging” his campaign.

“It’s not tariffs. It’s the war, it’s gas prices,” Paxton said. “Diesel is over $6 a gallon … people are feeling the pinch. That’s probably the biggest problem … that’s by far our biggest problem.”

Paxton said during the donor meeting that he planned to give Texans breathing room through his tax cut plan, which includes new house and healthcare write-offs and an expansion of the child tax credit. He stated he could not stop the war and had no control over gas prices.

“I’m just trying to figure out ways I can help people. That’s the only way: I can propose legislation,” Paxton said.

“This is a non-story. The Attorney General said what every Texan already knows: gas and diesel prices are too high, and hardworking Texans are struggling at the pump and at the grocery store,” Paxton spokesperson Madison Cercy told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “President Trump is doing everything he can to bring prices down, and Ken Paxton is going to Washington to help him by putting money back in families’ pockets with a bigger child tax credit and larger deductions for health care and buying a home. Texans need immediate relief, and everyone knows James Talarico will raise your taxes.”

Paxton told Fox News in March that Trump “did the right thing” with Operation Epic Fury, arguing the U.S. had to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

“No one wants foreign wars. But the reality is, when you’ve got a country that’s trying to build nuclear weapons, that is willing to use them, and that has demonstrated terrorist activity for decades, 40 or 50 years, you’ve got to deal with that, or eventually it comes to you,” Paxton said.