{"id":844,"date":"2026-05-19T17:09:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=844"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:09:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:09:02","slug":"trump-endorses-paxton-in-texas-senate-primary-over-incumbent-cornyn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=844","title":{"rendered":"Trump endorses Paxton in Texas Senate primary over incumbent Cornyn"},"content":{"rendered":"

The president faced pressure from his base to endorse the state\u2019s attorney general, Ken Paxton. But advisers had urged him to support Sen. John Cornyn, arguing that Paxton has too much baggage.<\/strong><\/p>

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\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at a campaign event in Dallas on Monday. (Julio Cortez\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state\u2019s Republican Senate primary, a reversal of his earlier plan to endorse Sen. John Cornyn \u2014 and a victory for Trump\u2019s MAGA base.<\/p>\n

Trump announced his endorsement of Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn, the 23-year incumbent, after waffling for months on how to proceed. The runoff election between the two men is next week, and early balloting has already begun.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s political advisers and top Senate leadership in Washington had urged Trump to back Cornyn, arguing that Paxton has too much personal baggage and would be a weak general election candidate in a once solidly red state that has become increasingly worrying for Republicans. Paxton has been dogged by scandals involving accusations of infidelity and misuse of public funds. He was impeached in 2023 by the Republican-majority Texas House but acquitted by the state Senate.<\/p>\n

After avoiding picking a side early in the race, Trump had been set to endorse Cornyn after the incumbent came in first place in the primary earlier this year \u2014 when the race went to a runoff. In early March, Trump was prepared to take the advice of Cornyn\u2019s consultants and allies and endorse him in the runoff, three people with knowledge of his thinking at the time told The Washington Post. On March 4, Trump posted to Truth Social that he would be endorsing in the race \u201csoon,\u201d and \u201cwill be asking the candidate that I don\u2019t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!\u201d<\/p>\n

Grassroots conservative activists and prominent MAGA commentators erupted. As Cornyn allies continued to urge the president to back him, Paxton declared that he would consider dropping out only if Cornyn and the Senate GOP leadership eliminated the Senate\u2019s rules that allow filibusters. That would enable Republicans to pass Trump\u2019s SAVE America voting bill, a top priority for the president that had been stalled by a Democratic filibuster. Paxton texted his announcement directly to the president, according to a person with knowledge of the message.<\/p>

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In the weeks that followed, Trump appeared to be reconsidering whom he would back, quizzing a variety of people about the two candidates, including donors, members of Congress and others with whom he came into contact in the White House or on the golf course.<\/p>\n

Paxton tried to charm Trump face-to-face later that month while attending a Palm Beach Republican Party event at Mar-a-Lago on March 20, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation, who described the conversation as positive for Paxton.<\/p>\n

White House officials, meanwhile, went into a wait-and-see approach, with one person with knowledge of the White House\u2019s thinking on midterms strategy saying officials there were \u201cstill letting it play out\u201d as Trump was weighing his options. The president in subsequent interviews with reporters discussed his like for both men and turned his focus on the weaknesses of the Democrat either one would be running against, James Talarico. Trump suggested that Talarico didn\u2019t have a chance of winning, regardless of the Republican nominee.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the endorsement, former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, who has backed Paxton in the race, said on his daily talk show Tuesday that Trump\u2019s endorsement in the race would be a \u201cmonumental decision.\u201d<\/p>

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The president faced pressure from his base to endorse the state\u2019s attorney general, Ken Paxton. But advisers had urged him to support Sen. John Cornyn, arguing that Paxton has too much baggage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump endorses Paxton in Texas Senate primary over incumbent Cornyn - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=844\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump endorses Paxton in Texas Senate primary over incumbent Cornyn - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The president faced pressure from his base to endorse the state\u2019s attorney general, Ken Paxton. 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