After spending most of the 21st century in the U.S. Senate, losing the endorsement of President Donald Trump isn’t going to make John Cornyn leave.
The Texas Republican on Tuesday issued a defiant public response to news that Trump had endorsed Cornyn’s challenger in next week’s Lone Star State primary runoff.
But he avoided criticizing Trump in the process.
I have worked closely with President Trump through both of his Presidential terms and voted with him more than 99% of the time. He has consistently called me a friend in this race. It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP…
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 19, 2026
“I have worked closely with President Trump through both of his Presidential terms and voted with him more than 99% of the time. He has consistently called me a friend in this race,” Cornyn wrote in a post on X.
Implicitly criticizing his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Cornyn wrote that he alone is the Republican candidate best positioned to battle Democrat James Talarico in November’s general election.
“It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP candidates down ballot and defeat Talarico in November, or a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about,” he wrote. “I trust the Republican voters of Texas.”
Cornyn is in his fourth term in the Senate, after his first election to the upper chamber in 2002.
He enjoys the support of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, as Fox News reported, though the two men were rivals for the majority leader post only two years ago.
But Cornyn’s establishment strength and decades in office were not enough to secure him victory in the Republican primary in March. His sometimes rocky relationship with Trump — telling a Texas newspaper in 2023 that Trump “can’t win in 2024” and that Trump’s “time has passed him by,” for instance — no doubt had a lot to do with it.
Cornyn, who spent heavily in the primary, came in first with roughly 42.5 percent of the vote while Paxton netted about 40.8 percent, but a candidate had to get 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.
Trump held off on endorsing either candidate, though he did use the race to try to get Thune and the GOP-led Senate to pass the SAVE America Act, even if it meant getting rid of the filibuster to do it.
And his endorsement of Paxton on Tuesday made it clear that he didn’t see Cornyn as the supporter Cornyn presented himself as.
“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough and, despite having the Most Successful Economy in the History of our Country during my First Term and, with all of the many other things that I accomplished (Secure Border, Military Dominance, Space Force, All Time High Stock Markets and 401(k)s, Record Job and Economic Growth, and so many other things that would be impossible to readily list!), which are considered by many to be legendary,” Trump wrote.
“John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency, itself, both of which were Landslide Victories and, more importantly, gave us the Country that we have today — THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA (and when we finish up with Iran, which will not be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon, you will see numbers that have never been generated by our Country before!), as opposed to the DISASTER of the previous Administration.”
And judging by the countless negative responses Cornyn’s post received from social media users, Cornyn’s words might have fallen on deaf ears. If social media responses were votes, Cornyn would be losing in a landslide.
Here are a couple of examples:
If you and Thune have so much political power, you should’ve been able to pass the SAVE America Act using the filibuster. You don’t have nearly the pull you think you do so here we are. At least Paxton puts it all on the line and fights like hell for America. Vote Paxton!!
— Ultra MEGA MAGA Boss Lady (@AmericanGal2021) May 19, 2026
I trust Texans, such as my generational Texans family are going to vote for Ken Paxton.
We’re sick of your do-nothong-tow-the-line politics.
Done. Good riddance
— The Texas Embassy (@THETXEMBASSY) May 19, 2026
The Texas primary runoff takes place Tuesday.
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