Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn has warned Donald Trump he will face “the most miserable two years of his life” if the Democrats triumph at November’s midterms, which he predicted will be a “disaster” for the GOP.
Cornyn, 74, was recently beaten by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in their Senate primary after the president belatedly waded in to endorse the latter, sending the scandal-hit Paxton into a runoff with Democratic rising star James Talarico.
“If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody,” the defeated candidate told The New York Times of Trump’s intervention, which brought an end to his career in the Senate after 24 years.
“There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100 percent, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants. But obviously that’s not what the senator’s role is supposed to be, especially in terms of checks and balances.”
Cornyn insisted he still supports the Republican ticket in the Lone Star State but would not campaign or fundraise on behalf of Paxton, who he has accused of being corrupt and unfit for office. He went on to suggest that Trump’s support for the AG, who is considered more extreme and MAGA-friendly than the moderate Cornyn, would backfire.
“It’s going to make things harder, certainly more expensive in Texas, and make it harder around the country,” he said.
“I don’t say that with any sort of desire for vengeance; I just think that’s the way it’s going to be. He’s going to have the most miserable two years of his life in the last two years of his term, I think, because I think November is going to be a disaster.”
If Democrats flip the House of Representatives and increase their numbers in the Senate, they could try to impeach Trump for an unprecedented third time and stall his legislative agenda, rendering him a frustrated lame duck.
Denying that he is now a “wounded bear” seeking retribution, the outgoing senator warned that Trump’s insistence on unquestioning loyalty in all things was harming their party and said he took little consolation from the president saying Cornyn will “remain my friend for a long time to come” in a Truth Social post congratulating Paxton on his victory last month.
“If that’s the way friends treat you, you wonder about his enemies,” the Texan said.
He went on to warn that life on Capitol Hill “is going to be a pretty bumpy ride for the next seven months,” with other ousted Republicans who have stood up to Trump like Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy likewise under no further obligation to toe the line.
“It does give some of us a little more freedom, and certainly leverage,” he said.
“As the president told President [Volodymyr] Zelensky when he was in his office a year or so ago – he said, ‘You don’t have any cards.’ Well, we’ve got some cards to play.”
Cornyn hinted that one area in which he might challenge Trump is over the Department of Justice’s decision to shield him from IRS scrutiny as part of the settlement agreed over the leak of his tax data.
“I think that’s a terrible mistake,” Cornyn said. “The president needs to be treated like everybody else.”
