President Trump teased on Wednesday that he will soon be making an endorsement in the bruising Texas GOP Senate primary runoff, declaring that the unlucky pol who doesn’t get his backing should drop out.
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Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and State Attorney General Ken Paxton both advanced to a May 26 showdown after Tuesday’s primary, which saw Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) get edged out.
“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas, a State I LOVE … cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer,” Trump declared on Truth Social.
“We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively! Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough,” the president added.
“My Endorsements within the Republican Party have been virtually insurmountable!” he continued. “I will be making my Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair?”
The tease came minutes after the Atlantic published a piece, citing three sources, that Trump planned to endorse Cornyn after aggressive lobbying from Senate GOP leadership.
While Paxton has worked to court MAGA voters and cast himself as the true Trump candidate, given his track record of challenging the 2020 election results and personal drama with impeachment, top GOP brass fretted about his success in November. While Republican leaders thought Paxton could beat Democrat James Talarico, it may take a lot of money to get him over the finish line.
GOP leadership, including the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), pushed for Cornyn, citing how he has generally fared better in polling against Talarico than Paxton.
“John Cornyn performed exactly where we had pegged where he would land based on our polling, one point ahead of Ken Paxton,” Cygnal data and insights pollster and CEO Brent Buchanan said in a statement.
“While he came out in the top seat going into the runoff, he did drastically outspend Paxton, who came in a point behind him,” he added. “I think the only way to avoid an expensive, bloody runoff is for Trump to convince Paxton to drop out.”
Further boosting Cornyn in his quest for Trump’s endorsement is his finish in Tuesday’s primary, where he topped Paxton 41.9% to 40.7%, per the latest tally.
Looming over Paxton’s bid is his scandalous past, including his 2015 indictment for conduct before his time as state attorney general. Those charges were thrown out due to a pretrial diversion agreement.
In 2023, he was impeached over accusations that he obstructed justice in the securities fraud case, made false statements against whistleblowers, gave preferential treatment to a donor, and misappropriated public resources, among other concerns.
Ultimately, Paxton survived those impeachment articles, which were furnished in the GOP-led state House, and was acquitted in the state Senate in a narrow 16–14 vote.
Trump’s de facto 2024 co-campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, worked for a super PAC backing Cornyn and has teased Trump’s endorsement.
“Because my phone is literally blowing up – I will be unavailable for the next few hours,” LaCivita posted on X after Trump’s tease about the Texas Senate race.
Up until now, Trump has remained neutral, as has Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is friends with both Cornyn and Paxton.
Top Republicans believe that Cornyn, who served as Texas’s AG in the 1990s, being at the top of the ticket in Texas will enable them to concentrate resources on more competitive races for the Senate.
“[If] Trump endorses early, it saves everybody a lot of money, and … 10 weeks of a spirited campaign on our side that keeps us from spending time focusing on the Democrats,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters Wednesday.
“If the president can weigh in, it would be enormously helpful.”
