2026-09-12T10:00:29.706Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/12/politics/trump-ken-paxton-insults
共和党保住参议院多数席位的希望，可能比任何其他人都更依赖得州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿。
而唐纳德·特朗普总统似乎不停地在辱骂他。
最近几天，特朗普多次为帕克斯顿发声——他支持帕克斯顿，而放弃了更稳妥的候选人、现任共和党参议员约翰·科宁。但他每次都在发言中夹杂大量对帕克斯顿外貌、穿着和谈吐的攻击。随后特朗普又向听众保证，尽管帕克斯顿形象不佳，但实际上是一位非常出色的总检察长。
这既怪异又有娱乐性，带着特朗普标志性的风格——在美国政治似乎因争议性战争、更激烈的党派对立和日益加剧的政治暴力而变得愈发沉重之前。
但这一切都引出了一个问题：特朗普到底在做什么？他真的认为这对他支持的候选人有帮助吗？这背后有任何策略吗？
一切始于9月2日，当时特朗普至少三次暗指帕克斯顿有点不修边幅：
- “有些人不喜欢他的穿着方式，”特朗普在白宫的一个旅游业活动上说道，“或者有些人不喜欢他接受采访或讲话的样子。”
- 他在玫瑰花园与共和党同僚的活动中补充道：“你可能不喜欢他的形象，可能不喜欢他的电视采访，但他或许是全国最优秀的总检察长……这可比他那套看起来不怎么样的西装重要得多。”
- “我认识一些外表非常亮眼的人，大家都说，哦，他们很棒，很棒，哇。但他们的工作一塌糊涂，”特朗普在得州副州长丹·帕特里克的播客中补充道，“老实说，这情况有点相反。”
本周在达拉斯举行的共和党中期代表大会的连续几晚，特朗普都在持续批评帕克斯顿。
周三，总统明确表示——如果还有人怀疑的话——他本人非常不认可帕克斯顿的形象。
“有些人可能不喜欢他的穿着方式，”特朗普说道，随后还加了一句笑点：“我就不喜欢。”
他后来补充道：“他可能穿着不得体，说话可能不那么完美，也可能不是我见过最帅的人。但你知道他是什么样的人吗？他是美国最伟大的总检察长。”
周四晚，特朗普再次重提此事，镜头尴尬地切到帕克斯顿站在那里，承受着又一次羞辱。
“我不知道他会不会再跟我说话，但你知道吗？只要他能赢，我不在乎，”特朗普说，“我真的不在乎。”
对此有几种可能的解释。
奥卡姆剃刀原则显然适用。特朗普在其公众生涯中已经说得非常清楚，他非常看重个人外表。他倾向于选择上镜、或至少外形符合要求的助手和内阁成员。
帕克斯顿显然不属于这一类。不妨看看帕克斯顿竞选团队在特朗普开始公开批评他前不久发布的一段简短视频——无论帕克斯顿有什么优点，他肯定缺乏魅力。https://x.com/PaxtonsPatriots/status/2093757154452762914
这似乎完全有可能，而且可能是最简单的解释：特朗普无法接受帕克斯顿糟糕的形象，而且在这个问题上他毫无顾忌。他曾预先表示，他的团队曾告诫他不要这么说。此外，众所周知，作为表演者的特朗普会从人群的反应中获取能量，因此对他批评的反应可能让他难以抗拒。
但假设他此举有实际策略，那么也有一些合理的理由。
其一，特朗普试图将焦点转移到帕克斯顿那些没那么令人反感的“短板”上。
这位候选人过往有大量个人和职业丑闻与问题。如果特朗普强调帕克斯顿的外表——而不是过往的刑事指控、弹劾和不忠指控——并让人们下意识地认为，他最大的缺点只是个人形象，这或许从整体上是有利的？
特朗普也可能是想借此突出帕克斯顿所谓的能力。毕竟，这些言论的报道内容包括特朗普称帕克斯顿是一位优秀甚至无与伦比的总检察长。许多媒体可能不会单独报道这些言论，但特朗普说帕克斯顿不修边幅，就能让这些引语获得更多关注。
或许通过反复强调这一点，特朗普是想让选民关注这场竞选真正应该看重的东西。
但最后一个潜在动机可能更加阴险。也许特朗普正在为日后指责帕克斯顿可能的失败铺路。
特朗普当然是个骄傲的人。他已经在预先指责国会共和党人可能会输掉众议院和参议院席位（尽管绝大多数民调显示，共和党面临的最大问题很大程度上是他自己造成的）。
如果帕克斯顿落败，这将是30多年来共和党首次在得州输掉全州性选举。考虑到特朗普在提拔帕克斯顿过程中发挥的核心作用，这将给总统的政治履历留下巨大污点。毕竟，正是他帮助帕克斯顿击败了更为常规、没有丑闻缠身的科宁，而科宁在大选中可能会轻松得多。
但也许特朗普正在制造一些距离，以便日后可以说帕克斯顿的竞选活动一团糟，没有抓住机会。这位总统显然对失败的背书感到敏感，事后经常试图通过指责候选人来为自己辩解。
到目前为止，还不清楚特朗普的这些举动效果如何。
特朗普周三声称，自他开始批评帕克斯顿以来，帕克斯顿的支持率“飙升”。但没有实际证据证明这一点。民调普遍显示这是一场处于误差范围内的竞争，还有一些民调显示民主党州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科略微领先。
不过，从这些民调中相当明确的一点是，在四个月前激烈的初选之后，帕克斯顿并未真正团结共和党人站在他这边。所以也许特朗普认定，值得尝试一些——任何——方法来给他一点助力。
只是他选择了一种非常奇怪的方式。
Trump can’t stop insulting his own candidate in Texas. Why?
2026-09-12T10:00:29.706Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/12/politics/trump-ken-paxton-insults
Republicans’ hopes of holding their Senate majority might hinge on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton more than anyone else.
And President Donald Trump seemingly can’t stop insulting him.
Trump has repeatedly made the case for Paxton — whom he endorsed over the safer candidate, incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn — in recent days. And over and over, he’s thickly layered it in insults directed at the way Paxton looks, dresses and speaks. Trump then assures any listeners that Paxton, despite how he presents, is actually a fantastic attorney general.
It’s both bizarre and entertaining, in a vintage Trump way — before American politics seemed to get heavier under the weight of controversial wars, more severe partisanship and increasing political violence.
But it all begs the question: What on earth is Trump doing? Does he really think this helps his candidate? Is there any strategy behind it?
It all started on September 2, when Trump alluded to Paxton being a bit of a slob no fewer than three separate times:
- “Some people don’t like the way he dresses,” Trump said at a travel industry event at the White House, “or some people don’t like the way he interviews or talks.”
- He added at a Rose Garden event with fellow Republicans: “You might not love his look, you might not love his television interviews, but he was the best attorney general in the country, perhaps. … And that speaks a lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great.”
- “I know guys that are very impressive. Everyone says, oh, they’re great, they’re great, wow. But they were lousy at their job,” Trump added on Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s podcast. “This is sort of a little bit the opposite, to be honest with you.”
Trump continued ragging on Paxton on successive nights of the Republican midterm convention in Dallas this week.
On Wednesday, the president made it clear — in case there was any doubt — that he personally didn’t have much regard for how Paxton presents.
“Some may not like the way he dresses,” Trump said before slipping in a laugh line: “I don’t.”
He added later: “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.”
Trump then recounted the whole thing again on Thursday night, as the camera rather awkwardly cut to Paxton standing and bearing his latest indignity.
“So I don’t know if he’s gonna ever speak to me again, but you know, I don’t care as long as he wins,” Trump said. “I really don’t care.”
There are a few potential explanations for all this.
Occam’s razor could certainly apply here. Trump has made it abundantly clear throughout his time in the public eye that he really values personal appearance. He tends to select aides and Cabinet members who are TV-friendly and/or look the part.
Paxton certainly is not that. Look no further than the brief video that his campaign for some reason posted shortly before Trump started publicly ragging on him. Whatever Paxton’s assets, he most certainly lacks charisma.https://x.com/PaxtonsPatriots/status/2093757154452762914
It seems entirely possible, and potentially the simplest explanation, that Trump can’t get past how poorly Paxton presents, and he just doesn’t have a filter on the subject. He has preempted some of his criticism by claiming that his staff told him not to say it. Plus, it’s no secret that Trump-the-showman feeds off the energy of crowds, so maybe the reactions to his criticism are too hard for him to resist.
But assuming he has an actual strategy here, there are reasons it could make some sense.
One is that Trump is trying to focus on Paxton’s, well, less-offensive liabilities.
This is a candidate with a host of personal and professional scandals and problems in his past. To the extent Trump gestures at how Paxton looks — rather than past criminal charges, an impeachment and infidelity allegations — and gets people to unconsciously think it’s just the way he presents himself that’s his big liability, maybe it’s a net-positive?
Trump could also be trying to draw attention to Paxton’s supposed competence. Part of the coverage of these comments, after all, includes Trump calling him a great and even unparalleled attorney general. Many media outlets likely wouldn’t cover those comments made on their own, but Trump suggesting Paxton is a slob means the quotes get more eyeballs.
Maybe by saying this over and over again, Trump is trying to focus voters on what should really matter in such a campaign.
But a final potential motivation is something more insidious. Perhaps Trump is setting the stage to blame Paxton for a potential loss.
Trump is a proud man, of course. He’s already pre-blaming congressional Republicans for potentially losing the House and Senate (even though polling overwhelmingly suggests the party’s biggest problems are largely his doing).
If Paxton loses, it would be the first time the GOP lost a statewide race in Texas in more than 30 years. And given the central role Trump played in elevating Paxton, it would be a huge black mark on the president’s political record. After all, he was the one who helped Paxton defeat a much more standard-issue, scandal-free candidate in Cornyn, who likely would have had an easier time in the general election.
But perhaps Trump is creating some distance so he can later say Paxton ran a terrible campaign and didn’t take advantage of his opportunity. The president is clearly sensitive about failed endorsements and often tries to explain them away after the fact by blaming the candidate.
Thus far, the jury is out on how Trump’s antics are playing.
Trump claimed Wednesday that Paxton’s numbers were going “through the roof” since the president began ragging on him. But there’s no actual evidence of that. The polls generally show a margin-of-error race, and some show Democratic state Rep. James Talarico slightly ahead.
What’s pretty clear from those polls, though, is that Paxton hasn’t really rallied Republicans to his side after a brutal primary four months ago. So maybe Trump decided it’s worth trying something — anything — to give him a little boost.
He’s just chosen a very curious method.