Donald Trump’s Texas endorsement hasn’t exactly had the desired effect.
At long last, the 79-year-old president issued his endorsement in the Texas Senate primary on Tuesday. But after he announced his glowing backing of Attorney General Ken Paxton—and delivered a brutal blow to Sen. John Cornyn—signs emerged that the endorsement may backfire.
“The Highly Respected Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, an America First Patriot, and someone who has always been extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT, is running for the United States Senate, to represent a place I love and WON, BIG, three times, with 6.4 Million Votes in 2024 (The Most Votes in the History of the State, BY FAR)!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.
“I know Ken well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a WINNER! Ken is a Strong Supporter of TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER and, very importantly, THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, something which polls at 87%, including Dumocrats, and yet can’t seem to get approved,” he added.
Following Trump’s Truth Social decree, Kalshi reported that Democratic candidate James Talarico’s odds shot straight up.
“The Kalshi market for the Texas Senate race is now tied at 50% between the eventual Republican nominee and Democratic candidate James Talarico,” the news arm of the prediction market reported.
Prior to the endorsement, Republicans were leading by several percentage points (57 percent).
The president’s endorsement, however, appeared to be a kiss of death for Cornyn a week ahead of the May 26 runoff.
Trump mercifully referred to Cornyn as a “good man” who worked alongside him on multiple issues. But he slammed him for being “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.”
Trump’s endorsement of Paxton was a worrying sign in and of itself for the GOP, whose Senate campaign arm spent millions to boost Cornyn in the race after the Texas Senate primary became the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history. Some $88 million alone was spent in the GOP primary.
The Texas attorney general has long been plagued by scandals. Paxton was impeached by the Texas House on corruption charges, with one alleging he requested $3.3 million in state funds to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former employees. He was later acquitted by the State Senate, allowing him to remain in office.
What’s more, Paxton was criticized for having an affair with a married mother of seven. In the run-up to the Republican primary, Cornyn ran ads attacking Paxton as a “crooked homewrecker.” Paxton’s office at the time labeled a Daily Mail report a “trash blog”; however, it did not specifically dispute its claims.
For months, the president held off on issuing an endorsement—despite announcing in March on Truth Social that one would arrive soon and that he would be “asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!”
Representatives for Paxton and Coryn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For his part, Talarico stayed above the fray regarding Trump’s endorsement.
“As I said on primary night, it doesn’t matter who wins this runoff. We already know who we’re running against: the billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system,” Talarico wrote in a statement.
“For decades, John Cornyn and Ken Paxton have embodied a broken politics that enriches wealthy donors while costs skyrocket for the rest of us. Our movement to take back Texas for working people rises above party politics — because the biggest fight in this country is not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom.”
