Posted on 05/09/2026 9:42:25 AM PDT by thegagline
President Donald Trump said he’ll “make a decision… maybe relatively soon,” on who he wants to endorse in the Republican runoff primary for Texas’s U.S. Senate seat.
So far, Trump has played Kingmaker in Republican politics. According to Ballotpedia, he’s endorsed 286 candidates in Republican 2026 primaries across the country, including weighing in on 19 of the 33 primaries for U.S. Senate. One race he’s stayed out of so far — the contentious primary in Texas between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, R.
After months of speculation, Trump declined to weigh in on the race ahead of the initial March 3 primary — despite making a whole host of other endorsements on a Corpus Christi visit on the last day of early voting.
“We have a great Attorney General Ken Paxton,” Trump said. “And we have a great senator, John Cornyn.”
Without a Trump endorsement, neither candidate took home more than 50% of the first-round vote — with U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, playing spoiler to send the pair to a runoff. Of note, Cornyn took home 42% of the vote while Paxton took home 40.5%, despite Paxton leading in nearly every poll leading up to the election.
This isn’t the first time Trump said he’s about to weigh in on this race. The day after the first round of voting, [March 4] Trump declared on TruthSocial, “I will be making an Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!”
(Excerpt) Read more at kxan.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Paxton, with or without Trump’s endorsement.
I really don’t care who Trump endorses anymore.
And that’s actually a good thing, because I see now MAGA starting to move on from Trump, it has to happen anyway for MAGA to succeed.
Trump was waiting to see if Cornyn would vote for the SAVE Act or not.
But since it stalled in the Senate - Cornyn couldn’t vote.
Agreed, our household is 100% Paxton. We need to have a Senator that’s Texas first, doesn’t have to be a saint. If one’s personal life was the prerequisite, Trump wouldn’t be in the White House.
What kind of insane black pilled doomer are you?
So you’ll vote Cornyn if Trump endorses him?
Cornyn is 75, has been a senator for 24 years, and he’s a McConnell toadie. Should be a no brainer for the President to tell him to go the hell home.
The idolaters aren’t going to like this, no matter how true it may be.
Trump will endorse the guy whom he believes will win
That’s all
How do people watch him for ten years and not get that?
MAGA people are idealists.
Eventually, with Trump, Idealism meets the Real World, and it’s easy for idealists to get disillusioned when that happens.
Bingo.
If Cornyn gets reelected he’ll owe Trump nothing. He’ll start showing his true colors the day after he’s elected for the lat time. Paxton seems to have it so Trump has to soften the blow-last minute.
I hope Trump doesn’t make an endorsement. Let’s let Texan’s decide without the WH chiming in.
This is ridiculous. Cornyn’s vote on the save act means nothing. So he votes yes, so what? It means not a damn thing unless they spike the filibuster. So Cornyn’s yes vote gives Trump cover to endorse him? F that.
And a reminder that Trump is the President of The United States, not the President of MAGA.
Either way, Trump gets pushback.
Precisely why he should stay out of it. While I am voting for Paxton, I think Cornyn now understands where his bread is buttered.
Absolutely correct.
Weaning MAGA from Trump is essential. He knows it and that’s why he sometimes says/does things to motivate MAGA.
He’s also immune to election pressures and has learned how politics works, so by making it seem that he’s being neutral he keeps donor money flowing and avoids unforced errors.
If Trump endorses Paxton now, Cornyn will stick a shive in his back in the Senate.
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.