A recording that leaked Wednesday featured Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton talking about President Donald Trump and the Republican midterm convention. According to Mediaite, Paxton said, “Do you feel like he’s a little bit of a drag? 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.”
Reporters later put those remarks to Trump. He said he had not heard what Paxton said. He then described the Dallas event and returned to numbers he has cited since early September.
“But I can tell you that the convention was amazing, as you probably know. We had 107 million views. But we had over 100 million views, I think 107. The NFL had 25 million views,” Trump told reporters.
Trump answered questions about Paxton by restating convention viewership figures
He went on, “So we had four times what the NFL did. And, you know, it’s possible that could be true. I don’t know if it’s possible. But other people were helped greatly. This was a national convention, midterm convention, never been done before. And we went directly against the NFL. It was just the timing worked out that way. And we had 107 million versus 25 million views, which was a big story in the entertainment world and sports world. So I think the convention, I would imagine they do it again often. Somebody said it won’t do as well because I won’t be around, but I’ll be around in some form.”
Trump also said, “I don’t know what form I’m going to be around in. But the convention, just based on the views that it got, it was the most watched thing on television. and that included the NFL, which is pretty amazing.” Fox News carried the exchange. Trump urged Texans to elect Paxton during the convention, and also joked about his demeanor.
Trump made the NFL comparison before to highlight the popularity of his Dallas event. On September 10, he wrote on Truth Social: “The Republican Midterm Convention last night, in Dallas, was a major, sold out hit, far bigger, better, and more important than anyone thought possible. made about the convention. It was really something, streaming all over the place, and really big numbers, despite going up against the NFL.“
He added, “The overall numbers beat the NFL. The Arena, which was really nice, beat its own attendance records. The place was packed! There were thousands of people outside who couldn’t get in. Screens were provided. I guess people LOVE TRUMP POLITICS! I’ll be there again tonight to close out the show. Exciting ‘Stuff!’ MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” While Trump described the event as a huge success, Paxton’s leaked comments suggest he was less than thrilled.
On Sept. 15, CNN’s Brian Stelter published a fact-check of that television claim, and other outlets later reviewed it as well. Stelter reported that the two NFL games airing opposite the convention drew a combined 43 million television views, while the convention drew 7 million television views.
PolitiFact later asked the White House about the numbers. Officials there pointed to social media impressions and to an X post from Trump advisor Alex Brusewitz. Brusewitz wrote, “Brian Stelter failed to mention our strong focus on digital content and viewership, including that livestreams on @TeamTrump’s TikTok generated more than 70 million combined impressions across nights one and two.”
Breitbart separately claimed 34 million TikTok impressions for the convention. PolitiFact also cited Nick Reiners, a senior analyst in geotechnology with the Eurasia Group, who said impressions are “not comparable to Nielsen ratings in any meaningful sense.”
