Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate nominee, attracted just a few dozen people to a campaign stop in San Angelo on Wednesday, according to the Daily Beast, citing a video shared by the liberal network MeidasTouch.
The event was part of his “Come and Take It Tour” at the Arc Light Bar & Grill, inside a Clarion Hotel. The venue runs a 4,000-square-foot ballroom for up to 300 people, but Paxton appears to have used a smaller “Video Wall Room” that holds about 106, the Beast says. Its tables had been cleared out for two short rows of stadium chairs. A Facebook video shows he spoke for roughly a quarter of an hour.
The Beast says it asked the campaign why the ballroom wasn’t used, but didn't receive an answer as of press time.
The stop came a day after Trump joined Paxton for two Texas rallies that, per the Beast, drew far bigger crowds. In Corpus Christi, Paxton said “July 4, we celebrated something pretty cool” and called it the nation’s 200th anniversary. Democrat James Talarico responded on X, “It was actually our 250th anniversary,” and added that Paxton spent the holiday in England.
At the Lubbock rally, Trump repeated a crude line about examining Sen. Jon Husted and then turned to Paxton: “I’m not sure your body is gonna qualify.”
In another moment for Paxton mocked on X, a clip made the rounds of Paxton acknowledging the sparseness of attendance, telling a rallygoer, "Thank you. Thank you for that one clap."