Republican senators are livid at Trump’s endorsement of Paxton
Many of them warn that his snub of incumbent Sen. John Cornyn could risk the seat and the party’s fight to keep its majority.
WASHINGTON — Republican senators reacted angrily Tuesday to President Donald Trump’s decision to endorse Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, in the state’s Senate primary runoff, warning that his snub of incumbent Sen. John Cornyn could risk the seat and the party’s fight to keep its majority.
Heading into their weekly GOP luncheon not long after Trump posted his choice on social media, many Senate Republicans appeared stunned and livid as they learned the news, which dealt a serious blow to Cornyn, who has served for more than two decades.
“Oh, boy,” said a visibly dismayed Sen. John Hoeven (R., N.D.) as he left the Senate chamber after hearing of Trump’s announcement.
“Well, obviously,” he added, “I support Sen. Cornyn.”
A stone-faced Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) refused to answer questions about the endorsement as he exited the chamber following a vote.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), whose independent streak has often angered the president, said she was “supremely disappointed” by Trump’s decision.
Then she went a step further, saying that the president’s endorsement of Paxton, a scandal-plagued conservative firebrand, could cost Republicans what had been considered a safe Senate seat.
“I think that this puts that seat in jeopardy,” she told reporters.
Trump’s endorsement, which came as early voting is underway in Texas, is expected to boost Paxton’s odds in what has already been an expensive and bitter election.
Many Senate Republicans, including the majority leader, John Thune of South Dakota, had been urging Trump to back Cornyn, whom they saw as a stronger candidate in a general election. The president’s decision to do otherwise amounted to a slap at Thune, an institutionalist like Cornyn.
“It’s his decision,” Thune told reporters of Trump as he entered the party luncheon at the Capitol, throwing up a hand in a gesture of exasperation.
“None of us control what the president does,” Thune said later. “He made his decision. That doesn’t change the way I feel.”
The endorsement was also likely to further sour an already tense relationship between Trump and some Republican senators who have bristled at his tactics and decisions during his second term, as the GOP has deferred to him rather than insisting on the Senate’s tradition of independence.
With just a narrow majority, Senate leaders already faced challenges muscling through many of the president’s priorities.
But they are now worried that the defeat of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) by a Trump-backed challenger last week and the president’s rejection of Cornyn will further complicate their efforts to pass consequential legislation, according to two leadership aides who requested anonymity to discuss internal political considerations.
Cassidy and Cornyn had engaged in political contortions to appease Trump and win his endorsement. But just days after his loss, Cassidy, whose 2021 vote to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection precipitated his break from the president, has displayed a more independent streak.
On Tuesday, Cassidy, who was greeted with a loud standing ovation from his fellow Republicans inside the luncheon, said that he would vote against a bill to fund immigration enforcement operations if it included security money tied to Trump’s White House ballroom project.
If Cornyn were to lose his primary, Trump would face the prospect of at least three lame-duck senators more willing to buck his demands. Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) decided to retire last year after Trump threatened to back a challenger.
Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine), who is running for reelection and has also been a thorn in Trump’s side, said she was dismayed about Trump’s endorsement of Paxton as well.
“John Cornyn is an outstanding senator and deserved, in my judgment, the president’s support,” Collins said. “Obviously, it’s the president’s call, but I’m disappointed that he did it.”
Even Trump’s most loyal allies in the Senate had concerns.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said that Trump had a right to his endorsement. But, he added, “you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out the pathway for Paxton is there, but it’s more uphill.”
Democrats have been optimistic about their chances in Texas after nominating James Talarico, a state legislator who has focused on outreach to independent voters and boasts strong fundraising numbers.
Graham said he believed the Texas Senate race would likely become more expensive and competitive with Paxton as the nominee.
“What we’ve got to do is raise a lot more money now,” Graham said.
This article originally appeared in the New York Times.