Donald Trump’s rumored endorsement of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) looks to be dead, leaving Texas Republicans to watch the incumbent to continue to slug it out with scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
According to Politico, the grassroots MAGA faction is “taking a victory lap” despite the serious risk of losing the Senate seat to Democrats in November — a trade-off they’re willing to make to purge Washington establishment Republicans from their ranks.
As MAGA loyalists gathered at CPAC in Grapevine, Texas, they openly celebrated what they view as a midterms victory: preventing Trump from endorsing Cornyn ahead of May’s GOP Senate primary runoff.
The evidence is unmistakable. Campaign spending from both Cornyn’s operation and the National Republican Senatorial Committee has remained minimal. The Senate Leadership Fund-aligned nonprofit One Nation has similarly held back resources. To MAGA operatives, this signals the Washington establishment is quietly accepting a general election matchup between Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
“The grassroots stood in the breach and said a resounding ‘NO’ to Cornyn,” Trump ally Steve Bannon told Politico. “Polling and spending indicates that the Republican DC establishment reluctantly concurs. This could be the victory that empowers MAGA through the midterms.”
Paxton is capitalizing on the opening. He traveled to Mar-a-Lago last Friday for a Palm Beach County GOP dinner and was spotted meeting privately with Trump on the patio, according to three sources familiar with the encounter.
The two discussed the runoff, according to one source. “It was a positive meeting,” another attendee reported. Paxton’s spokesperson declined to comment.
It’s the latest maneuver in an intense, coordinated push to prevent Trump from backing Cornyn — a campaign that’s clearly working.
White House insiders acknowledge the political reality. “The Cornyn endorsement looks dead, but it’s Trump, so it’s never certain,” one White House source said. “Cornyn sealed his fate by carrying Mitch [McConnell]’s water on that ridiculous gun-grabbing bill. No one thought he would be dumb enough to run for reelection after that but here we are.”
Trump’s next move remains uncertain. He may withhold an endorsement entirely, or he may back Paxton after the Senate’s SAVE Act debate concludes, according to three sources familiar with the president’s thinking.
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