President Donald Trump's decision to endorse Ken Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas primary runoff could help Democrats secure a win in the red state with James Talarico and show how "the president weakened his hold over the GOP," an analyst reported on Wednesday.
Salon's Amanda Marcotte described how Trump's move could backfire on him as he tries to complete his pricey ballroom project and as outrage rises over his $1.8 billion slush fund. Now, longtime Republicans like Cornyn, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who have been pushed out by Trump-backed candidates, could ultimately impact Trump's policies.
"Cornyn now joins a group of sitting Republican senators dubbed the 'YOLO caucus,' because they are leaving at the end of this year and so they no longer have to worry about angering Trump," Marcotte wrote. "Sen. Bill Cassidy lost his primary race in Louisiana earlier this month after Trump deemed him 'disloyal' for his vote to impeach after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Like Cornyn, Cassidy has been a rubber stamp for Trump’s agenda this term, even providing the decisive vote in favor of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but the famously narcissistic president didn’t care."
And other Republicans have plans to exit. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) "is retiring after being abused by Trump for years for occasional votes against his agenda," as former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) "who protected Trump through two impeachment trials" and "many high-profile conflicts," Marcotte wrote.
"Trump’s inadvertent creation of a YOLO (You Only Live Once) caucus is looking to be a poor decision on his part," Marcotte explained. "Free from having to placate the infamous bully in chief, these Republicans are causing far more problems for him than they ever did when they were trying to stay in his good graces. They are trying to derail his slush fund, attacking and helping push out members of his Cabinet, and it looks like they may even kill the ballroom funding. With only 53 senators in the caucus, adding one more Republican to the list of people who are angry at Trump could make it very hard for the president to will a majority on anything he wants to do, especially if it’s already unpopular."
These outgoing GOP lawmakers have nothing left to lose. And as Marcotte described, they are now "visibly outraged."
"What’s more certain is that Trump did himself no favors by destroying Cornyn’s career over a grudge that is over five years old," Marcotte added. "The move signaled to Republicans the futility of bending over backwards to help Trump, which is all Cornyn has done since then. Trump is destroying their personal hold on power, and that the one thing members of his party can’t abide. Even Republicans have their limits."
