Posted on 03/04/2026 12:16:35 PM PST by Miami Rebel
President Donald Trump teased an endorsement in Texas’s bruising GOP Senate primary on social media Wednesday, saying he will soon pick a candidate and asking the other to “DROP OUT OF THE RACE.”
On Tuesday night, the GOP primary between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) resulted in a run-off.
“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas, a State I LOVE and won 3 times in Record Numbers (the HIGHEST vote ever recorded, by far!!!), cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW!” Trump posted to Truth Social, adding:
We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively! Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough. Now, this one, must be PERFECT! My Endorsements within the Republican Party have been virtually insurmountable! It is such an honor to realize and say that almost everyone I Endorse WINS, and wins by a lot, especially in Texas! I will be making my Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair? We must win in November!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP
The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer and Ashley Parker reported just before Trump’s post that the president is “expected” to endorse Sen. Cornyn following “following the incumbent’s better-than-expected finish.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) also signaled optimism that Trump will back his pick in the race – Cornyn. Thune told Punchbowl News on Wednesday that Trump’s endorsement “saves everybody a lot of money” and that “If the president can weigh in, it would make it enormously helpful.”
Thune tells me Cornyn “had a great night” and that an early Trump endorsement in the runoff “saves everybody a lot of money.”
“If the president can weigh in, it would make it enormously helpful” ahead of what will be a brutal runoff campaign
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) March 4, 2026
I hope President Trump does this for EVERY race across the land. And I hope the pubbie who does NOT get the endorsement steps down.
I’d like to think they’d, ‘take one for the team’ but most feckless Quisling ‘republicans’ would rather form a circular firing squad...with ‘We The People’ in the middle! :(
And the extreme blind spot, so evident in Trump I, seems it may reappear. In Trump I, he appointed some of the worst, back-stabbing people imaginable. He picked people who actively sought to sabotage him and now he seems to endorse a chief member of the swamp, Cornholeio.
Trump should exchange his endorsement for the ability to make recess appointments.
The point Trump is making is there there will be NO run off. He wants a candidate in now (not 2 running against each other) so he’s saying he’ll endorse (now) and the other should drop out.
No one has til 5/26
If he endorses Cornyn, it will be obvious he’s sold out the base in every conceivable way.
Still i hope paxton wins cuz i fly a texas flag because he sued our state in PA over the 2020 selection.
Paxton CAN get elected in the general. Your contention is a lie from the devil, spewed by rino’s, media and democraps
Wesley Hunt
Stalking horse candidate:
“A stalking horse candidate is a person who runs for office not to win, but to test the waters for a future candidate, hide the true candidate’s intentions, or split the opposition’s vote. Often used in primaries or to test policies, they act as a decoy to gauge public support or weaken a rival.”
If Trump wants to endorse and ask the other candidate to withdraw, then he is set to endorse the RINO over MAGA. No way would he ask the sitting incumbent to withdraw.
If that’s true, then I’d be curious to see the poll numbers to support it.
Cornyn and Thune need to go.
When I was living in West Texas, we found that Cornyn was a despicable POS but couldn’t vote him out. We moved to Kentucky and had the turtle to contend with. Now I am in North Carolina and Tillis is finally leaving, but we will probably end up with our ex-lefty governor in his place (or Whatley). Yesterday we voted for the people who are going to raise our property taxes this year with no recourse. On an up note, my pawpaws are going to bloom this year!
In post 60—I read/saw on TV that TX Republicans polled said they would not vote for Cornyn in November, that they would stay home. If that poll is true, then he will have a tough time winning. Cornyn is apparently not well liked.
If it wasn’t for Wesley Hunt taking 292,005 votes Paxton may have actually came out ahead of Cornyn.
Why do you call Thune (and Cornyn) “RINOs”.
They are both perfect examples of everything the GOP is all about.
We cannot right the ship with the weasley John Cornyns.
My big fear is that he will endorse John Cornyn.
I did not vote for this.
Trump seriously hurt MAGA by endorsing Lindsey Graham.
Trump can save face by throwing Cornyn to the curb. Trump needs this as much as we need him. Paxton can counter-balance Linda Graham's statism!
Amnesty.
NOT Honesty.
Turn your spellpecker off and use your glims.
I am not a Texan. I suppose, as people often like to point out, I am also not a “true” MAGA either despite a voting record that would say otherwise.
From afar? I can completely see and agree with the problem on the 2022 BSCA. As a strong 2A supporter - I stinkeye any crimping of the basic right to bear arms, including tangled webs intended to undermine it.
So I get it. But - people *do* realize the basic bill in question was 99% a Rubio baby right? And people *do* realize that however much you might love DJT, he gets a C- — at absolute best - on 2A issues. He’s never been a friend of the second amendment and indeed, I could name multiple *worse* actions from both DJT administrations without thinking too hard.
So, I’m being sincere. Not trying to a pick fight. What makes John Cornyn so awful?
If it’s just because he doesn’t rant and rave like a podcaster? OK. I disagree, but if people want a bellower, fine. I don’t, but I get that.
Is it just because he’s old and been in DC forever? OK, I get that too. *THAT* I’m more sympathetic towards.
But I just do not get the ‘RINO’ complaints.
The biggest apostasy I see is his squishiness on the right of citizens to bear arms, without EITHER mommy or daddy government inserting a lot of hoops and hurdles. But I’ll reiterate - if that’s your big thing? Lots of MAGA - including DJT himself - needs to be tossed aside.
Old? Well... He’s younger than DJT.
Time in DC? Sympathetic, but it’s also 2026, not 2016 anymore.
I just don’t get it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.