President Donald Trump congratulated Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) on his career in the Senate as he took to Truth Social to celebrate Ken Paxton‘s win in the Texas Senate GOP runoff.
“Congratulations to Ken Paxton on such a tremendous win, and to John Cornyn for having run a strong and powerful race but, more importantly, having had a truly great career. John will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common sense Senator, one who is respected by all,” Trump wrote.
The president’s long-awaited endorsement of Paxton in the Lone Star State Republican runoff came last Tuesday, following weeks of Trump teasing that he would weigh in as the congressional GOP establishment pushed him to back Cornyn. Paxton, the current Texas attorney general whom Trump called “a fighter” who “knows how to WIN” in his endorsement message, swept the floor in the Tuesday night runoff.
Paxton defeated Cornyn by over a 27-point margin, taking the runoff race with 63.8% of the vote. Paxton, the more conservative hard-liner, is now poised to take on the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, in the November primary.
Trump remained noncommittal on a Texas endorsement for months, giving a triple endorsement to Paxton, Cornyn, and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) in the initial March general primary before ultimately narrowing his support to Paxton. Cornyn sits in a different spot than some of the other GOP incumbents whom Trump did not endorse, such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), as Cornyn and Trump are still largely in good standing.
In his Wednesday morning Truth Social post, Trump referred to Talarico as the cartoon character Alfred E. Neuman.
“His opponent, Alfred E. Neuman, may be the worst TEXAS candidate I have ever seen. A strong Open Borders advocate, he is WEAK ON CRIME, believes there are 6 genders, is insulting to Jesus Christ, will never support the Military, was a big Mask Wearer until recently, and is a Vegan who dislikes meat, not exactly a good way to be if you’re wanting to win an Election in Texas,” Trump wrote.
After the race was called in favor of Paxton Tuesday night, Talarico spoke out publicly to begin to try to poach Cornyn supporters to his side. Talarico told Politico that his campaign amassed a record $600,000 in the two hours after Paxton’s win.
“I want to thank Senator John Cornyn for his years representing our state. We don’t agree on everything, but we both still believe in public service. To Senator Cornyn’s supporters: you have a place in our campaign,” Talarico wrote on X.
REPUBLICANS FALL IN LINE BEHIND KEN PAXTON AFTER RESOUNDING VICTORY
But Trump slammed Talarico as a worse option for “Dumocrats” than his primary challenger, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX).
“Jasmine Crockett, a very low IQ individual, who is no relation to the legendary frontiersman, Davy Crockett, would have been a far better choice for the Dumocrats. I will do some nice, big, beautiful rallies for Ken. Texas, this will be FUN!” Trump wrote.
