President Donald Trump’s abandonment of Sen. John Cornyn destabilizes the already strained relationship between the White House and Senate Republicans.
Cornyn and Paxton make final pitch for runoff election
Here’s what you need to know about the ballot runoff.
Fox – 4 News
- President Trump endorsed Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Republican Senate runoff election.
- Mr. Paxton’s supporters believe that while Mr. Cornyn’s campaign highlights Mr. Paxton’s scandal, the support will ensure his victory.
- According to polls, he could face Democrat James Talarico in the Texas election in November.
President Donald Trump has been steadily weeding out Republican opponents in Congress in the 2026 primaries, with Texas Sen. John Cornyn likely to be next. He was the face of the establishment for four terms, Sen. John Cornyn, who President Trump dumped in favor of a MAGA candidate a week before the crucial May 26 runoff election for the Republican nomination.
After months of refusing to publicly endorse a candidate in a competitive primary, the president announced his support for Lone Star State Attorney General Ken Paxton. He called his controversial challenger a “true MAGA warrior” who has a track record of making Cornyn, once the No. 2 Senate Republican, a mercurial figure.
The four-term senator “didn’t stand by me during tough times,” the president said. Although Cornyn has a solidly conservative voting record, he said he is looking for a candidate to replace Trump in 2023 because he does not believe Trump will win the 2024 presidential election.
Political observers say Trump’s support will destabilize his already fractious relationship with Senate Republicans, who have begun to push back against the administration over issues such as the Iran war and a planned extravagant White House banquet hall.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy lost reelection in the primary after incurring the wrath of President Trump by convicting the president in his second impeachment trial. Cassidy opposed the bill before being re-elected, but has since voted in favor of advancing the War Powers Resolution to end the Iran war.
If Mr. Cornyn is ousted, he could join a small but critical group of Republican senators willing to defy the president, having either retired or lost the primary over his opposition.
“Trump may get high off these endorsements that please his base, but it makes the math in the Senate much more difficult in terms of getting anything done in an election year,” said Jessica Taylor, an analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which forecasts U.S. elections. “He made these senators free agents because they no longer had to worry about their chances of being re-elected and were no longer bound by their loyalty to Trump.”
Paxton’s election in November has also caused controversy within the Republican Party, with establishment Republicans raising concerns about the attorney general’s past bribery allegations and marital drama.
Mr. Cornyn echoed that point in a May 20 digital ad that highlighted Mr. Paxton’s scandal, noting that his net worth had ballooned to $12 million during his tenure and that he owned nearly a dozen homes, but also drawing attention to his alleged affair and divorce.
Cornyn’s ad warned that the attorney general’s nomination could be the catalyst for the first Democratic Senate victory in Texas since 1988, without mentioning his Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, by name.
“If Ken Paxton is a Senate candidate, national media will flood Austin,” the ad’s voiceover says. “Mr. Paxton’s scandal will decide the election.”
“Ken Paxton is extremely wealthy, but morally bankrupt,” the ad continues. “Crooked Ken is a deadly threat to America First.”
Paxton and his allies turn down the volume amid bitter feud
President Trump’s decision to endorse Paxton comes after top Senate leaders and former Trump campaign advisers unsuccessfully lobbied the White House on Cornyn’s behalf.
Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston, said Cornyn’s campaign and its allies have not been able to effectively convince Trump that Paxton is a bigger liability to the Republican Party than Cornyn.
“I don’t want to say that Cornyn doesn’t have a chance of winning on Tuesday, but I would say that the chance is very slim,” Jones said. “He’s probably walking around like a dead man right now.”
A new SoCal Strategies poll of likely Republican voters in Texas after Trump’s endorsement shows Mr. Paxton with a commanding 21-point lead over Mr. Cornyn.
Cornyn’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment on this story, but Paxton’s allies are excited about Trump’s support.
“We really feel that Ken Paxton is a great fit for the present and future of the Republican Party, especially in Texas,” Greg Keller, a spokesperson for the pro-Paxton Lone Star Liberty PAC, told USA TODAY. “This is a guy who’s loved by the grassroots, he’s a conservative through and through, and he doesn’t have to pretend or pretend like he’s MAGA or like he’s America First. That’s who he is.”
Some Republicans have already expressed the view that Trump’s support effectively ends the runoff, suggesting that all eyes are on Talarico and the Democratic Party. Texas Republican Party Chairman Abraham George, in a May 21 post on
Paxton and his allies have signaled they are turning off the valve on attack ads aimed at Cornyn, telling USA TODAY that it is paramount that conservatives begin reconciliation early after a painful primary campaign. “It is very important that we begin litigation against Talarico,” Keller said.
But Cornyn’s team rejected that opinion, saying in a May 21 post that X responded directly to Paxton that he was “desperate to avoid accountability.” The senator’s campaign said it intends to “burn in” facts about his career, including the plea deal prosecutors offered in April to a Waco man accused of repeatedly sexually abusing young boys.
“(Election Day) is judgment day,” Cornyn’s campaign said in a May 22 post on the X Show. “We fought for Texas. We worked for Texas. And we’re not going to stop telling the truth about the person who could put everything at risk.”
Texas support deepens rift between President Trump and Senate Republicans
The president has been on a winning streak against Republicans who opposed him, beginning with his victory in Indiana on May 5, when he defeated five of seven state Senate incumbents. Then, on May 16, his favored candidate defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana. Most recently, on May 19, his hand-picked candidate defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky.
Republican strategist Jesse Hunt said the developments create a “unique dynamic” in the White House, given the number of Senate Republicans who have retired or lost reelection due to clashes with Trump.
“I think there’s probably some legitimate frustration in the president’s mind that he thinks he’s more popular than the senators, and I think the people of the states, especially the primary voters, want the senators to follow guidance from the administration in order to get their agenda passed,” he said.
But other experts argue that the White House is waging a self-serving strategy that will neither preserve its parliamentary majority nor remain in power for the remainder of 2026.
“Trump is doing what’s best for himself, not what’s best for the entire Republican Party,” Taylor said. “It definitely puts the Senate in even more danger.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Paxton’s support would make the race in Texas more expensive for Republicans because Paxton’s support is more vulnerable to a Democratic upset than Cornyn’s. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) said many members of the conference were “disappointed” that the president did not support Cornyn.
The concerns come as some Republicans have expressed concerns about the Justice Department’s newly announced $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that could funnel money to Trump supporters, including individuals convicted of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a May 21 statement: “The nation’s highest law enforcement official is asking for slush funds to pay people who assault police officers? It’s completely stupid and morally wrong. Either way.”
Hunt, a former spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said there have always been disagreements between the White House and the Senate, but many senators are now accepting that this is Trump’s party.
“I would go so far as to say that President Trump has been able to woo his own party better than many other presidents because of his huge popularity in the Republican primaries,” Hunt said.
“The only thing that matters to the Republican Party at this point for Leader Thune is to maintain the Senate majority,” he added. “That’s very important.”
Democrats grin at the prospect of making Texas more competitive
Right now, polls in Texas show that no matter who wins in the Republican primary runoff, both Cornyn and Paxton face a tougher-than-expected battle heading into November.
Trump won Texas by 14 points in 2024, but a Texas Southern University Barbara Jordan Center for Public Policy Research poll released earlier this month found that about 45% of voters said they would support the attorney general if Paxton advances, compared to 45% for Talarico.
According to the poll, Mr. Cornyn had 45% of voters, compared with 44% for Mr. Talarico.
Talarico has garnered national attention since its primary campaign against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, raising a whopping $27 million in the first three months of 2026. Earlier this year, former President Barack Obama also joined the campaign, and the two posed for a photo at a taco restaurant in Austin.
Texas is rated as a “likely” Republican state, according to the Cook Political Report, which predicts Paxton’s nomination will result in a more competitive election.
Most conservatives reject the idea that Texas will be held this year, arguing that his support will drop if their MAGA machine focuses on Talarico. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on May 15, upon returning from China, the president called the Democratic nominee a “weird, strange candidate.”
He mocked Talarico and falsely said the 37-year-old congressman was vegan. In an interview on “The Bulwark Podcast” on March 19th.,” The Democratic Senate candidate “categorically” denied the accusations.
“Our campaign these days is basically barbecue,” Talarico said.
Trump also said Talarico believes there are “six genders,” an attack that referenced his opposition to an April 2021 Texas bill that would require public school students to play on athletic teams based on the gender they were assigned at birth.
During the discussion, Talarico said that modern science “recognizes that there are far more than two biological sexes. There are actually six, and to be honest…I was surprised, too.”
Talarico and his supporters argue that it doesn’t matter who emerges from the Republican runoff because both men are “creations of corrupt, broken billionaire politics” that a new generation of Texans are ready to fight.
Texas Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City), a supporter of Talarico, told USA TODAY, “Donald Trump and Ken Paxton are two peas who were impeached as felonies for extramarital affairs. So it’s no surprise that they’re coming together.” “No matter who Republican primary voters choose on Tuesday, we’re ready to defeat them.”
contribution: Zachary Charmelet Adam Powell
