‘How Does That Help?’ GOP Senators Slam Trump’s Endorsement of Ken Paxton — Say It Puts Texas Senate Seat ‘In Jeopardy’

(AP Photo/Nick Wagner)

Senate Republicans reacted with dismay to President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) primary campaign against Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), openly expressing their fears it would make it harder and more expensive for Republicans to keep the seat.

Cornyn is in the fight of his political life in the May 26 primary runoff election against Paxton, and it has been a viciously brutal battle. The incumbent is widely viewed as a stronger candidate in the general election due to Paxton’s series of scandals, lawsuits, and controversies, but the attorney general has gotten support from the MAGA wing of the GOP for his combative, far-right stances.

Trump initially declined to endorse for the primary, but posted on Truth Social that he would throw his support behind a candidate “soon” one day after the initial primary held earlier this year, urging whoever didn’t get his endorsement to drop out.

Multiple media outlets reported the president was initially expected to endorse Cornyn, but Paxton tweeted a Hail Mary that seems to have been effective in delaying an endorsement for his rival, pledging he would drop out if Senate leadership lifts the filibuster to pass the SAVE Act, a bill Trump vehemently supports. Cornyn had already expressed his support for the SAVE Act but soon publicly declared his willingness to ditch the filibuster to get it passed, a position he had not taken before. A week ago, Cornyn introduced a bill to name a federal highway after Trump.

The president finally made his endorsement Tuesday, teasing the pending announcement that morning, and then writing a long Truth Social post lauding Paxton as “someone who has always been extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT” and dunking on Cornyn as someone who “is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough.”

The primary was less fractious on the Democratic side. State Rep. James Talarico (D) surpassed Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) by a comfortable margin; she conceded the race the next morning and tweeted a call for her supporters to “remain united” and “rally around our nominees.”

Even before the runoff, this year’s Texas Senate battle was already the most expensive Senate primary on record, burning through over $128 million, with a whopping $98.9 million spent just by the Republican campaigns and PACs. Trump giving the nod to Paxton immediately raised concerns that it would be far more difficult and expensive to defend the seat with the scandal-plagued attorney general’s name on the ballot. Paxton found his name in negative headlines again this week over criticism for a plea deal his office had given to a man accused of sexually abusing a young boy.

Reporters collected reactions from several Senate Republicans in the wake of the news of Trump’s endorsement. Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio described Cornyn’s colleagues as “livid with Trump” for picking Paxton, with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) “stone-faced,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) saying she “doesn’t understand” why Trump endorsed the “ethically challenged” Paxton, and the normally taciturn Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) also “stone-faced” and throwing up his hands in apparent exasperation.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said she was “supremely disappointed” to see Trump’s support for Paxton and openly speculated that it “puts that seat in jeopardy” in November. “How does that help strengthen the president’s hand when we lose a state like Texas?” she asked.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who infamously tweeted in 2016 that if the GOP nominated Trump, “we will get destroyed…and we will deserve it,” fretted that the already costly race would now be even more costly, predicting it would be “three times more expensive” to secure a win for Paxton.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who just lost his primary after Trump endorsed his opponent, had a cutting response. “I thought Ken Paxton was a felon,” he said.

Note: Paxton was indeed charged with multiple felonies in a securities fraud case but managed to keep the case dragging along for years and in 2024, reached a deal with prosecutors that let him avoid pleading guilty if he paid restitution (about $271,000) to the former clients he was accused of defrauding, completed 100 hours of community service, and took 15 hours of legal ethics courses.

Punchbowl’s congressional defense reporter Anthony Adragna collected a few more reactions from “stunned” Senate Republicans, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) refusing to comment and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) saying he is “speechless.”

This article has been updated with additional content.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!