Donald Trump endorsed Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate runoff on Tuesday, his second endorsement in a Republican primary against a sitting GOP senator this cycle.
Trump made the endorsement in a lengthy Truth Social post which mentioned the incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn, and blamed him for insufficient support of the president and his continued grip on the Republican Party.
“Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next United States Senator from the Great State of Texas,” wrote Trump, calling the attorney general “someone who has always been extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT.”
He added of Cornyn: “John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough…John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency, itself.”
This marks the president’s second attempt to shake up the Senate GOP conference this year, and comes as the results of the Louisiana Senate primary and his efforts to boost Rep. Julia Letlow over incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy won a resounding victory this week. Cassidy becomes the first duly-elected sitting senator to lose a primary challenge in more than 10 years, since Richard Lugar in 2013.
Both races put GOP leadership in a bind, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his allies have already spent millions to back both Cornyn and Cassidy. Texas represents a particular disaster waiting to happen for Republicans, as Democrats are seriously in the running to take the seat in most polling which has shown James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, within low single digits of both Cornyn and Paxton.
Republicans tied to Senate leadership have already sunk more than $10m into supporting Cornyn’s re-election bid, and have been pushing Trump for months to support the incumbent. Earlier this year Trump gave a half-hearted endorsement of both candidates ahead of the initial primary contest between the two candidates and Rep. Wesley Hunt, who came in third.
Cassidy did not take questions when he was spotted by reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday shortly after the announcement. Other Republicans signaled their disappoinment in the president’s decision.
Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, another Republican, told reporters “we’ll see!” when asked if he was worried about the seat remaining in Republican hands after Trump’s announcement.
“Obviously I strongly support Sen. Cornyn,” he said. “I had hoped he would support or endorse Sen. Cornyn.”
The Democratic Party’s Senate campaign arm, which has been slavering over the brutal Republican infighting in Texas for months, released a statement shortly after the news broke.
“Republicans are watching $100 million circle down the drain before their eyes as Donald Trump rejects their year of begging him to bail out John Cornyn. While the Texas GOP has been embroiled in a ‘bitter,’ ‘costly intraparty war’ that has fractured their base and left them drained of resources, Democratic enthusiasm has surged to its highest level in decades. James Talarico is building the campaign to win, and Texans will send him to the U.S. Senate in November,” said Maeve Coyle.
Eric Garcia contributed reporting.
