Republican anger at convicted felon and demented president Donald Trump is deepening today after his endorsement scandal-ridden Ken Paxton, the opponent of longtime GOP stalwart John Cronyn resulted in a defeat in the primary in Texas.
Cronyn had the independence to question Trump when the erratic president was wrong and that , to the demanding president driven bjy revenge, meant he was no longer 100% loyal to the criminal in the White House.
“It is very sad and unsettling, and not good for the Senate,” said Senator Susan Collins, the Maine Republican, close ally of Cronyn. “Republicans found Mr. Trump’s decision to back Attorney General Ken Paxton over Mr. Cornyn especially perplexing given that Mr. Cornyn was far from a never-Trump rebel,” writes Carl Hulse of The New York Times.
Mr. Cronyn did not vote to convict Mr. Trump on impeachment charges, as did Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who lost his primary earlier this month after being attacked regularly by the president. Nor had he broken from the party on select issues, as has Senator Thom Tillis, the North Carolinian who decided not to seek re-election after coming under fire from Mr. Trump.
In 2023, Mr. Cornyn did question Mr. Trump’s electability after the ignominious end to the president’s first term, but after Mr. Trump’s primary win in New Hampshire in January 2024, Mr. Cornyn quickly endorsed him.
Despite Mr. Cornyn’s defeat, Senate Republican leaders do not expect him to suddenly diverge much from the party line as Mr. Cassidy did immediately after his loss by joining with Democrats in challenging the president’s authority to wage war with Iran. Given Mr. Cornyn’s record and leadership tenure, a sudden turn to the left wouldn’t seem to be in the cards, despite any resentment toward the president he may feel.
But his situation adds to the ranks of G.O.P. incumbents done in by their own president with little remaining incentive to give him the benefit of the doubt. And it could influence how other Senate Republicans operate in the critical coming months before the midterm elections. Already, it has become clear that they are questioning why they should bend constantly to Mr. Trump on issues on which they might think differently given the political choices he has made.
Even before Mr. Cornyn’s loss, the anger at the president had been reflected in Senate Republicans’ opposition to money for his ballroom project and resistance to a fund for those who the president believes were victims of overzealous federal prosecutors — both White House priorities that senators see as putting them in political jeopardy. Resolving those differences could now be further complicated by the defeat in Texas.
“Republicans have finally grown a backbone,” says one Republican consultant. “They are putting their nation above politics.”
“The name calling, it’s so beneath Republican politics,” Chad Wilbanks, a Republican lobbyist and former executive director of the Republican Party of Texas told J. David Goodman and Lauren McGaughy of The New York Times.. “It’s so disheartening.”
Wilbanks adds: “You have a lot of independents and women that, quite candidly, just do not like Paxton. A lot of Republicans too, for that matter,” Mr. Wilbanks said. “Republicans won’t vote for James Talarico (the Democrat). But they may not vote in that race at all.”
