Senator Cornyn Confident in Overcoming Trump’s Endorsement of Paxton in Texas Political Battle

WASHINGTON — Texas Senator John Cornyn expressed confidence on Sunday that he can navigate the challenge posed by President Trump’s endorsement of his primary opponent, Ken Paxton. This comes despite Trump’s recent support proving pivotal for other candidates.

Senator Cornyn, a Republican, argued that his circumstances differ significantly from those faced by Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, both of whom were defeated by candidates endorsed by Trump.

“It’s a different scenario compared to what we saw with Cassidy and Massie,” Cornyn remarked during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.” “I have been an ally to Trump, as you’ve mentioned.”

Cornyn suggested that Trump’s endorsement of Paxton stems from frustration with the Senate’s inability to meet his demands promptly, rather than a complete disapproval of Cornyn himself.

Unlike the harsh critiques aimed at Cassidy and Massie, Trump offered a more tempered endorsement of Paxton, Texas’s attorney general, while acknowledging Cornyn’s past collaboration.

Trump referred to Cornyn as a “good man” with whom he has had a productive working relationship, although he noted that Cornyn had not always been supportive during challenging times.

Cornyn had encouraged Trump not to run for president during the 2024 election cycle, urging him to instead focus on the criminal indictments pending against him at the time.

Paxton, by contrast, was an unapologetic Trump loyalist.

GOP leadership and the National Republican Senatorial Committee endorsed Cornyn, arguing he is a more viable contender in the general election than Paxton because of the AG’s baggage.

In 2015, Paxton was indicted on securities fraud charges that predated his time as AG. Those charges were subsequently dismissed in a pretrial diversion agreement.

Eight years later, he was impeached over accusations that he obstructed justice in the securities fraud case, made false statements against whistleblowers, gave preferential treatment to donors and misappropriated public resources.

Ultimately, he was acquitted in the impeachment proceedings in a narrow 16–14 vote in the state Senate.

The Texas primary will take place Tuesday. Whoever wins it will face off against Democrat James Talarico in the general election in November.

In terms of Cassidy, he was one of seven Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump in 2021, and Massie had long been a thorn in the president’s side during critical partisan votes over the past year and a half.

Trump had publicly railed against the two of them, particularly Massie.

Cornyn said Sunday that Trump “can be a pretty impatient guy” and explained that he picks his battles with the president on a case-by-case basis but is very supportive of his overall agenda.

“I’ll continue to vote in that same way, but sometimes the president needs a little help when, particularly, we’re dealing with the midterms here, where I think there’s a lot more anxiety than, perhaps, we can fully appreciate about the midterms,” Cornyn said.

“And this is going to be critical to his last two years in office.”

Cornyn had been starting to slip behind Paxton in the polls before Trump’s endorsement.