MAGA ramps up pressure on Trump to dump Cornyn
· Axios
President Trump, already at odds with many MAGA leaders over Iran, is getting pressured hard by MAGA activists not to endorse Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) for reelection. Why it matters: This is the most unified, intense, in-his-face MAGA campaign yet to push Trump into picking sides in a pivotal fight — the GOP establishment or his base. Trump was leaning toward backing Cornyn before MAGA went ballistic, officials tell Axios.
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- Republican leaders see Cornyn as way more electable than scandal-stained GOP challenger, state Attorney General Ken Paxton. A loss in November could jeopardize Republicans' Senate majority.
Zoom in: Cornyn and Paxton finished atop the field in last week's Republican primary and are headed for a May 26 runoff.
- Trump has said he plans to endorse in the race, and his choice will be viewed as the favorite.
- As MAGA is pressuring Trump, the president's using top Senate Republicans' hopes he'll back Cornyn as leverage in trying to push them to approve stringent voter ID and anti-transgender policies.
- Top Republicans fear that if Paxton winds up being the GOP nominee he could lose in November to state Rep. James Talarico, who's trying to become the first Texas Democrat to win a statewide race in 32 years.
Trump is keeping his Paxton-backing MAGA base at bay — at least for now.
What they're saying: The Texas Senate race "is bigger than Cornyn v. Paxton, bigger than Bush v. Trump, bigger than Establishment v. Grassroots — it's this and more," said former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, an outspoken Paxton supporter who hosts the "War Room" podcast.
- "It's MAGA versus everything they hate, everything that has screwed their country, every wrong they believe needs to be righted — and righted now," Bannon added.
Zoom out: Dozens of pro-Trump influencers have taken to X to slam Cornyn in recent days.
- They've highlighted footage of the senator saying Trump had been "reckless" in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, of him in 2023 calling Trump "irrelevant," and that the probe into the Trump campaign's ties to Russian interference in the 2016 election was needed to "get to the bottom of what exactly happened."
- The MAGA offensive includes prominent pro-Trump figures such as Laura Loomer, Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec.
- It's aimed less at Texas primary voters than on influencing Trump, activists say.
Pro-Cornyn party leaders, meanwhile, are playing the inside game.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune, National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Tim Scott and other top party strategists have been using their regular access to Trump to press him to back Cornyn.
- They argue that Paxton — who was impeached by the Texas Legislature on corruption charges and has faced allegations of infidelity — would be a disastrous general election candidate who could lose and help put the GOP's Senate majority in jeopardy.
Pro-Paxton activists have less direct access to Trump, but are hoping the president — an ardent social media user — sees their posts and decides it's not worth defying them, especially as MAGA's anger over the Iran war is building.
- The pro-Paxton set also notes that Trump often is open to advice from MAGA activists, not just party leadership.
Behind the scenes: Senior Republican officials express deep skepticism that the pro-Paxton social media blitz is organic, and suspect it's being paid for.
- They've been poring over Paxton's campaign finance disclosures to try to gauge who may be funding it.
- They also note that during his 2023 impeachment, Paxton got support from paid influencers.
- Cornyn himself has suggested that's happening again. "Are you being paid by the Paxton campaign?... I think you're a paid influencer," Cornyn said in a testy exchange with a reporter this week.
Paxton representatives adamantly deny paying anyone involved in the anti-Cornyn social media effort.
Flashpoint: MAGA activists say they're more aligned on the Texas race than they are on the war in Iran, even as many some say the president's decision to attack meant abandoning the "America First" agenda he ran on.
- Loomer is among the MAGA activists who backed Trump's decision on Iran. But she told Axios that if he endorses Cornyn, "the base would likely stay home during the midterms."