The Texas attorney general was understandably happy to get the president’s support. Oddly enough, Democrats were thrilled, too.
Why did Trump give up on electability concerns and shift from Cornyn to Paxton?
Maybe because after orchestrating defeats for Cassidy and Indiana state senators, he’s leaning into his “I’ll do whatever I want, whenever I want, for any reason I want†attitude, without regard for the consequences.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-19T21:04:06.145Z
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-paxton-endorsement-cornyn-senate-talarico-democrats
In early March, Donald Trump said he would “soon” issue an endorsement in the Republican Senate primary in Texas, adding that he expected the other candidate to drop out of the race after failing to receive his support. Two days later, The Washington Post reported the president had made up his mind: He would endorse Sen. John Cornyn over his intraparty rival, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, ahead of their May 26 runoff election.
The ostensible decision made sense, since GOP officials were in broad agreement that Cornyn was a safer bet in the general election. For a president terrified of accountability, it wasn’t too surprising that he was prepared to back the incumbent, if for no other reason than to improve the party’s odds of keeping the seat and preventing a Democratic-led Senate....
One day later, the president proved him wrong. MS NOW reported:
President Donald Trump endorsed Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff on Tuesday, ending months of public neutrality in a race that could help determine the balance of power in Congress.
“I know Ken well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a WINNER!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, touting Paxton’s support for ending the filibuster and passing the SAVE America Act. “Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate.”
.....We’ll learn soon enough how GOP voters in Texas respond, but stepping back, there are a couple of angles to keep in mind. First, it’s worth appreciating that many Republicans still believe Paxton can win (Texas is a red state, after all) but because of his many scandals and awful reputation, th
e party will have to spend heavily in the hopes of getting him across the finish line in the fall. Every penny Republicans have to spend to hold onto a seat in the Lone Star State is money they won’t have to spend elsewhere.
A Paxton primary victory would create a competitive race in a state GOP officials weren’t prepared to worry about.
Second, it’s not yet clear how and why Trump shifted from Cornyn to Paxton, but it’s easy to imagine that the president is increasingly emboldened after orchestrating the defeat of Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana and several GOP state senators in Indiana.
Or put another way, Trump appears to have embraced a “I’ll do whatever I want, whenever I want, for any reason I want” attitude, without any real regard for whether his decisions help himself or his party. Watch this space.
I live in Texas. I tend to watch MS NOW but when I have the news or other network programs on (Jeopardy), I am amazed at the negative ads. Cornyn has more ads on and they are really nasty. Paxton is an asshole and the Cornyn ads are very effective. This is going to get even nastier as we get close to the primary runoff
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