Daniel Wolfram
Unfortunately for Ken Paxton, Trump has found that the crowd loves it when he does a bit about his lack of style and looks.
Trump’s speech during the first night of Trump-a-Palooza was long and revisited some of the same topics he has talked about over the last six months.
But the speech took an unexpected twist when Donald Trump turned to the topic of his candidate in Texas and the real reason why the GOP is holding the convention in Dallas.
While Trump was meant to use that portion of the speech to argue why people should vote for his candidate, it instead turned into a rather grim insult.
Trump trashes Ken Paxton
Instead of praising his candidate, Trump spent part of his keynote speech unintentionally trashing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for Senate in a tight race against Democrat James Talarico.
Trump began picking apart Paxton’s personal style and looks in front of the crowd.
“Some may not like the way he dresses. I don’t,” Trump told the crowd. “Although tonight he looked very spiffy in his blue suit, I must tell you.”
Roasting his own candidate
Trump did not stop with mocking Paxton’s fashion sense. He quickly transitioned to commenting on his public speaking habits.
“They may not like the way he talks. I can see that. A lot of people don’t like the way I talk either. But we do get crowds? There’s no question,” Trump said.
Trump acknowledged that his candidate might lack political pizzazz, but he insisted that voters should instead focus on the fact that Paxton is an ardent conservative.
Trump saved the best for last
He capped off the Paxton roasting with one of the biggest backhanded compliments uttered in any American political speech.
“He may not dress right. He may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen, but you know what he is? He’s the greatest Attorney General in America, and he deserves to be your next senator,” Trump said.
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After that “endorsement,” voters in Texas will decide between Paxton and Talarico on the first Tuesday in November.
