President Trump once again mocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's looks at the GOP's midterm convention this week, and this time cameras caught the Senate hopeful's pained, fixed smile as the joke landed.
Trump revisited the bit during his second Dallas speech, noted The Daily Beast on Friday, teasing that his own staff had begged him not to repeat comments he'd made the night before about Paxton's appearance.
"I don't like the way Ken dresses," Trump said, before pivoting to praise the suit Paxton wore the previous day.
Cameras caught Paxton grimacing the moment the jab landed — in a moment posted to X by journalist Aaron Rupar.
Paxton, who's running to replace retiring Sen. John Cornyn after beating him in a primary, faces Democrat James Talarico in November, but Trump has increasingly turned his comedic attention toward his own ally instead. During Wednesday's speech, Trump also poked fun at how Paxton talks, comparing it to criticism he says he faces himself, before arguing Paxton was one of the greatest attorneys general in Texas history, and possibly the country.
It wasn't a one-off. Trump made similar remarks at a White House Rose Garden event last week to scattered laughter, joking about Paxton's dress, appearance and TV interviews before pivoting to praise his record. He brought it up yet again in the Oval Office that same day, and once more in an interview on the Lt. Dan Podcast, where he called Paxton "phenomenal" while still slipping in a jab about his interview skills.
Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 on bribery and corruption charges before being acquitted by the state Senate. He has also been dogged by allegations of the marital infidelity that led to his divorce.
