National Republicans have spent months trying to rescue Ken Paxton. He’s complicating that effort.

Tensions are brewing with some Republicans after POLITICO published Paxton’s closed-door comments that “D.C.” Republicans were largely controlling his race.

“He is welcome to raise his own money and say whatever he wants,” said one Republican involved in the Paxton rescue effort, who like others in this article was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “In fact, if he did that, he’d probably be winning right now and we wouldn’t need to spend all this money.”

Senate Republicans and top operatives didn’t want to be in this position in the first place. Many had warned that the Trump effort to unseat Sen. John Cornyn and back Paxton in the primary would cost Republicans hundreds of millions to drag Paxton across the finish line in the general election. Cornyn and Senate GOP groups spent millions of dollars on ads during the primary attacking Paxton over his series of scandals and warning he was a flawed candidate.

Since then, the usual crowd of never-Paxton types has expanded into a wider circle of frustrated Republicans who are irked by the effort it’s taking to boost the scandal-plagued Senate candidate. And Paxton saying he doesn’t control his campaign messaging — alongside his remarks that President Donald Trump’s midterm convention hurt him politically — isn’t helping.

Paxton also complained about the drag of the Iran war and high prices on his campaign in another closed-door recording that Axios published Wednesday.

“Beggars can’t be choosers. He can try to raise federal money at a level that is necessary to save his candidacy at this point but his arms don’t reach that high,” said a Texas-based GOP consultant who’s closely monitoring multiple races. “As usual, he communicates something that is unhelpful, that is undisciplined, that is politically self-harmful and like most things, lacks any gratitude whatsoever.”

The top Senate GOP super PAC, Trump’s aligned MAGA Inc. operation and other Republicans are pumping more than $200 million into the race to salvage Paxton’s campaign against Democrat James Talarico. Trump allies say they have worked hard to shore up Paxton, suggesting they’ve pushed donations toward the campaign and the larger GOP Super PAC effort to avoid disaster in the Lone Star state. Trump plans to travel to Texas for the second time Wednesday to boost Paxton.

Paxton allies have brushed off his latest closed-door comments, saying he was referring to GOP super PACs he’s not allowed to coordinate with as a candidate.

The Paxton campaign did not respond to a request for comment, though campaign adviser Nick Maddux said in response to POLITICO’s initial report of the audio that “AG Paxton is thankful for the support and knows how important Texas is to keeping the majority which is why he’s on the ground every day.”

But another Republican, a Trump ally working on the fundraising effort, said the national intervention isn’t overstepping. That person said the messaging guidance from the national GOP is standard for major Senate races and that Paxton “needs the help.”

One national GOP operative involved in the Texas Senate race noted that the attorney general’s lackluster fundraising early on left him vulnerable to Talarico’s attacks throughout the summer — especially over Paxton’s series of “self-inflicted” scandals, which have made him “toxic” with key voting blocs in the deep red state.

“We warned them about this,” the GOP operative said.

The Texas Senate race has sucked up oxygen, despite Trump winning the state in 2024 by double digits. And, the Senate map has kept expanding as Democrats have made gains in other typically red states, forcing Republicans to make critical decisions about where to allocate resources.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Republicans have said there are dedicated donors who are backing their effort to help Paxton, as they also try to shore up red seats across the map.

Paxton, in the September meeting with donors, acknowledged Washington’s influence.

“I’ve never been in a race where I felt less control over the campaign … it’s all coming — you know — from D.C.,” Paxton told donors during a small fundraising event last month, according to the audio.

Top GOP officials have tried to downplay Paxton’s comments. The White House referred POLITICO to the RNC when asked for comment. The RNC argued Paxton, in the audio, was referring to the super PACs he can’t coordinate with as a candidate.

“This is fake news nonsense mixed with lazy reporting demonstrating a clear ignorance about how super PACs work. President Trump has called Ken Paxton the single greatest attorney general in history and has been clear he will do whatever it takes to make him the next senator from Texas,” RNC spokesperson Zach Kraft said in a statement.

Trump, when speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, said he hadn’t seen Paxton’s latest comments. He added that his midterm travel blitz has helped Paxton and other Republican candidates.

“Ken’s doing much better now that I — everybody is — since starting three, four days ago, since starting the rallies. It’s brought a whole new awareness to how great the Republicans are doing, how great the economy is doing,” Trump said, touting investments and manufacturing.

The president last week traveled to Texas and told the crowd that Paxton is a “pain in the ass sometimes” and later acknowledged he’s “a little controversial.” But, he also warned the Texas crowd that Talarico would be “such a horror to your state,” adding, “we need the votes and I’m here for that, and I think we’re going to win.”

Vance also traveled to Texas, where he called Paxton “amazing attorney general and your next senator.”

Still, other Republicans have simply grown resigned to the state of the race, with Paxton needing all the aid he can get.

“There is only so much we can do,” one senior Senate GOP aide said. “And I feel like we’re doing a lot.”

The Paxton campaign told POLITICO it raised $18 million in the third quarter across the campaign and his joint fundraising committees. That’s roughly double his second-quarter total, though the campaign did not provide its cash-on-hand numbers, and Talarico has yet to release his fundraising haul.

Paxton also announced a $20 million ad buy last week — a significant single media investment in the race. But he’s had to rely heavily on Trump, MAGA Inc. and the top Senate GOP super PAC to bail him out.

Republicans have largely leaned on the Senate Leadership Fund, rather than the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC, to keep Paxton afloat. SLF is spending a Texas record-breaking $131 million sum through Oct. 12 and has pledged to continue to spend more through the final weeks of the election.

MAGA Inc. is increasing some spending for Paxton and is expected to hit near $45 million by Oct. 12.

If Paxton were to lose, Trump’s reaction and whether he chooses to distance himself from the rescue effort will be driven by media coverage, said a former Trump fundraiser.

“If the media coverage related to election night and the autopsy a couple days afterwards is brutal towards Trump, like, horrible economy, inflation’s not that much better than the last year of Joe Biden’s … he will lash out,” the person said. “But if the narrative is, it’s a midterm presidential, this is what normally happens … he’ll move on as fast as he can and never talk about Ken Paxton again. It just depends what the coverage looks like post the November election.”

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