President Donald Trump's decision to back Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn in Tuesday's Texas Republican Senate runoff has opened a deep rift within the GOP.
Trump endorsed Paxton earlier this month, citing Cornyn's insufficient fealty during moments he deemed critical to his political survival, and the president pointed specifically to the Texas senator's decision to withhold his endorsement of Trump's 2024 re-election bid until after the New Hampshire primary, reported Politico.
"VERY disloyal to me," Trump posted on Truth Social over the weekend, declaring that Paxton "WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!!!"
For Republicans who have long worked alongside Cornyn — who has held his Senate seat since 2002 and finished second in the 2024 race for Senate majority leader — the president's intervention felt like a repudiation of decades of service, and party insiders fear the party will emerge from the brutal GOP primary in tatters.
“The vitriol is going to be real,” said a Texas Republican state lawmaker, who is supporting Cornyn and, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak freely without fear of retribution. “[Trump] has destroyed that trust there. No matter what we do for you, you will still stab us in the back. That’s what he did to Cornyn.”
National Republicans and major GOP donors, many of whom poured millions into Cornyn's campaign, now worry that a Paxton nomination would endanger the seat in November against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, who has been raising significant funds and polling competitively against both Republican candidates.
Cornyn has long been considered the most influential Republican in Texas among the donor class, serving as an unofficial gatekeeper to the state's deep-pocketed conservative fundraising network. His potential defeat would sever that relationship between Washington Republicans and Texas money in ways that could reverberate for years.
“To say he’s the most adored politician by the donor class in Texas is an understatement,” said a Washington GOP strategist who's close to Cornyn. “That’s why this is hard to come to grips with, because he was viewed as the gatekeeper to every major donor in the state, and there’s not a close second.”
Trump has this month alone helped defeat Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) — both of whom had crossed him – but some in the GOP donor class believe the president and his massive MAGA Inc. war chest should be responsible for funding Paxton's general election run if he wins against Corynyn.
“With Trump going all in on Paxton, the larger ecosystem is looking to Trump to cover any additional costs to carry Paxton across the finish line there,” said one Republican Senate strategist. “The expectation is that the president has been on a winning streak. He knows how to win. But obviously winning requires resources, and the expectation is he will deploy his own.”
