Cornyn’s record indicates that he has often sided with the interests of the GOP establishment over those of Trump and his voters.
The race to become the Republican nominee in Texas’ upcoming Senate election is coming to a head.
After failing to secure more than 50 percent of the vote during Tuesday’s primary race, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn will face off against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May runoff election to determine who will represent the Grand Old Party on the state’s 2026 ticket. While President Trump declined to make an endorsement in the contest prior to this week, it appears the president is now changing his tune.
Trump issued a Truth Social post on Wednesday saying that the primary race “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer.” He further revealed that he “will be making [his] Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that [he doesn’t] Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!”
Reports emerged in the hours that followed indicating that the president is preparing to endorse Cornyn, a move that puts him at odds with a sizeable portion of his base, who generally favor the MAGA-aligned Paxton.
While Cornyn has attempted to posture himself as aligned with Trump and conservative causes throughout his 2026 reelection campaign, a look at the senator’s record indicates that he has often sided with the interests of the GOP establishment.
Selling Out the Second Amendment
When President Biden and his party pushed for a major gun control package in 2022, all Senate Republicans like Cornyn had to do was say, “No.” But Texas’ senior senator had other ideas.
Cornyn not only voted for the bill that was peppered with vague language about “dating partners” and red flag laws; he spearheaded negotiations with Senate Democrats on behalf of the Republican conference. Without Cornyn and Co.’s help, the legislation likely would have never passed.
Calling Conservatives Terrorists
When a group of Republican representatives voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House Speaker in 2023, Cornyn took his support for the California congressman to the extreme. Echoing rhetoric often used by leftists, the Texas senator labeled these House Republicans as “terrorists.”
“We saw a similar thing happen to [former Republican House Speaker John] Boehner, [Paul] Ryan, and now McCarthy. I’m sure the next speaker is going to be subjected to the same terrorist attacks,” Cornyn said at the time. The Lone Star State’s senior senator later doubled down on X, writing, “A handful House members just want to blow up the institution and themselves in the process. Sad.”
Attacking Efforts to Investigate Anti-Trump Lawfare
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is one among several Democrat prosecutors to weaponize his office to target Trump ahead of the 2024 election. But rather than do everything to fight such outrageous lawfare, Cornyn was busy attacking his Republican colleagues for fighting it.
When then-Speaker McCarthy authorized House committees to probe Bragg’s activities in 2023, Cornyn downplayed the need for such inquiries.
“There’s more than enough to do,” Cornyn reportedly said. “I would hope they would stick to the agenda they ran on when they got elected to the majority.”
Cornyn would later go on to avoid directly condemning Special Counsel Jack Smith’s lawfare against Trump that same year. When asked about potential indictments from Smith of the then-former president, the Texas senator defended the Biden Justice Department’s ability to bring such charges.
“I think that’s entirely within the purview of the Department of Justice and has nothing to do with the United States Senate,” Cornyn said. The Texas Republican also said that he had “no knowledge of anything approaching that” when pressed on whether he believed Smith was a “credible prosecutor.”