This week has seen a seismic shift inside the GOP. Senator Bill Cassidy is gone. Representative Thomas Massie is gone. And as of yesterday, Donald Trump has made it unmistakably clear who he believes should carry the Republican Party's future in the biggest red state in America.
The President endorsed Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, and the Bush-era Republican establishment is shrieking in disgust.
For years, the old guard GOP told us that loyalty to the base was secondary to institutional decorum. They told us that the voters who powered Trump's rise were useful during elections but needed to be managed among themselves.
Cassidy learned on Saturday what happens when you manage the base rather than serve it. He finished third in his own primary, behind two Trump-aligned challengers, pulling a humiliating 25% of the vote—a sitting U.S. senator, rejected by three-quarters of his own party's voters.
Then came Tuesday night in Kentucky. Thomas Massie, a seven-term incumbent, fell to Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein by nearly nine points. More than $32 million poured into that race, making it the most expensive House primary in American history. But the voters had already decided.
Now the battlefield shifts to Texas.
Trump's endorsement of Paxton is the most consequential of them all, and everyone in Washington knows it. John Cornyn is no Bill Cassidy. He voted to acquit Trump in both impeachment trials.
He claims (by twisting the stats) a 99% voting record with the President's position (the real number is closer to 65%). He even proposed renaming a highway after Trump last week in a last-ditch effort to get the endorsement. John Cornyn has run his campaign pretending to be as MAGA as they come.
But Trump saw through the performance. "John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough," the President wrote on Truth Social. He pointed to Cornyn's late arrival to his 2024 presidential campaign and to a remark Cornyn made in 2023 that should haunt him into political retirement: that Trump's time "has passed him by."
The time that has passed, it turns out, is Cornyn's.
It’s worth noting the President’s pivot since the March Primary, which has revolved around the SAVE America Act. After the March primary, where Cornyn edged Paxton by a razor-thin margin, Ken Paxton did something that career politicians rarely do. He issued a clear ultimatum: pass the SAVE Act and end the filibuster blocking it, and he would consider stepping aside.
The Senate failed to act. Cornyn, who spent decades defending the filibuster, scrambled to reverse his position in mid-March, but the damage was done. Trump now knew exactly who was willing to fight on his terms, and who was trying to survive.
The President's endorsement praised Paxton as "a true MAGA Warrior" and "a Strong Supporter of TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER and, very importantly, THE SAVE AMERICA ACT." He called Paxton "a Fighter" who "knows how to WIN."
That language matters. Trump is not simply choosing sides in a runoff. He is defining what Republican leadership looks like after he leaves office. And the model he is choosing looks like Paxton, not Cornyn.
The Republican establishment in Washington spent $100 million backing Cornyn through this primary cycle. Senate Majority Leader John Thune personally lobbied the White House to endorse his colleague. The entire institutional weight of the old guard landed on Cornyn's side. Trump looked at that coalition and chose the other man anyway.
Consider what Cornyn represents. He is the last of a breed of Republican senator who believed that proximity to power was the same thing as loyalty to it. He said many of the correct things when the cameras were rolling.
But when Trump was under fire in 2023, Cornyn told the world that the President's moment had passed. He pushed amnesty, worked with Dems, and lobbied for gun control. He fought for his own power, not his voters. Not for MAGA. Not for America. Not for Texas.
When it came time to fight the filibuster for the SAVE Act, Cornyn converted only after it became politically convenient. Loyalty under pressure is the only loyalty that counts, and Cornyn never demonstrated it.
This is the moment Texas Republicans need to understand. The Cassidy defeat in Louisiana was satisfying. The Massie defeat in Kentucky was decisive. But a Paxton victory in Texas on May 26 would be historic. It would mean that in the span of ten days, Trump-backed candidates toppled or are positioned to topple an impeachment-vote senator, a seven-term House incumbent, and a former Senate whip backed by $100 million in establishment money.
That is not a trend. That is a rout. But Texans must vote and finish the job. Texas has always been the stronghold where Bush-era Republicanism made its last stand. The donor networks, the consultant class, the permanent political infrastructure of the GOP old guard, all of it runs through this state.
If Paxton defeats Cornyn, that infrastructure crumbles. The message to every Republican officeholder in America becomes inescapable: the voters are with Trump, and the old way of doing business is finished.
Early voting is underway. The runoff is on May 26. Texans have one week to send a message that will echo through every Republican primary for a generation. The old guard has spent decades telling the base to fall in line. Now it is their turn.
The President endorsed Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, and the Bush-era Republican establishment is shrieking in disgust.
For years, the old guard GOP told us that loyalty to the base was secondary to institutional decorum. They told us that the voters who powered Trump's rise were useful during elections but needed to be managed among themselves.
Cassidy learned on Saturday what happens when you manage the base rather than serve it. He finished third in his own primary, behind two Trump-aligned challengers, pulling a humiliating 25% of the vote—a sitting U.S. senator, rejected by three-quarters of his own party's voters.
Then came Tuesday night in Kentucky. Thomas Massie, a seven-term incumbent, fell to Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein by nearly nine points. More than $32 million poured into that race, making it the most expensive House primary in American history. But the voters had already decided.
Now the battlefield shifts to Texas.
Trump's endorsement of Paxton is the most consequential of them all, and everyone in Washington knows it. John Cornyn is no Bill Cassidy. He voted to acquit Trump in both impeachment trials.
He claims (by twisting the stats) a 99% voting record with the President's position (the real number is closer to 65%). He even proposed renaming a highway after Trump last week in a last-ditch effort to get the endorsement. John Cornyn has run his campaign pretending to be as MAGA as they come.
But Trump saw through the performance. "John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough," the President wrote on Truth Social. He pointed to Cornyn's late arrival to his 2024 presidential campaign and to a remark Cornyn made in 2023 that should haunt him into political retirement: that Trump's time "has passed him by."
The time that has passed, it turns out, is Cornyn's.
It’s worth noting the President’s pivot since the March Primary, which has revolved around the SAVE America Act. After the March primary, where Cornyn edged Paxton by a razor-thin margin, Ken Paxton did something that career politicians rarely do. He issued a clear ultimatum: pass the SAVE Act and end the filibuster blocking it, and he would consider stepping aside.
The Senate failed to act. Cornyn, who spent decades defending the filibuster, scrambled to reverse his position in mid-March, but the damage was done. Trump now knew exactly who was willing to fight on his terms, and who was trying to survive.
The President's endorsement praised Paxton as "a true MAGA Warrior" and "a Strong Supporter of TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER and, very importantly, THE SAVE AMERICA ACT." He called Paxton "a Fighter" who "knows how to WIN."
That language matters. Trump is not simply choosing sides in a runoff. He is defining what Republican leadership looks like after he leaves office. And the model he is choosing looks like Paxton, not Cornyn.
The Republican establishment in Washington spent $100 million backing Cornyn through this primary cycle. Senate Majority Leader John Thune personally lobbied the White House to endorse his colleague. The entire institutional weight of the old guard landed on Cornyn's side. Trump looked at that coalition and chose the other man anyway.
Consider what Cornyn represents. He is the last of a breed of Republican senator who believed that proximity to power was the same thing as loyalty to it. He said many of the correct things when the cameras were rolling.
But when Trump was under fire in 2023, Cornyn told the world that the President's moment had passed. He pushed amnesty, worked with Dems, and lobbied for gun control. He fought for his own power, not his voters. Not for MAGA. Not for America. Not for Texas.
When it came time to fight the filibuster for the SAVE Act, Cornyn converted only after it became politically convenient. Loyalty under pressure is the only loyalty that counts, and Cornyn never demonstrated it.
This is the moment Texas Republicans need to understand. The Cassidy defeat in Louisiana was satisfying. The Massie defeat in Kentucky was decisive. But a Paxton victory in Texas on May 26 would be historic. It would mean that in the span of ten days, Trump-backed candidates toppled or are positioned to topple an impeachment-vote senator, a seven-term House incumbent, and a former Senate whip backed by $100 million in establishment money.
That is not a trend. That is a rout. But Texans must vote and finish the job. Texas has always been the stronghold where Bush-era Republicanism made its last stand. The donor networks, the consultant class, the permanent political infrastructure of the GOP old guard, all of it runs through this state.
If Paxton defeats Cornyn, that infrastructure crumbles. The message to every Republican officeholder in America becomes inescapable: the voters are with Trump, and the old way of doing business is finished.
Early voting is underway. The runoff is on May 26. Texans have one week to send a message that will echo through every Republican primary for a generation. The old guard has spent decades telling the base to fall in line. Now it is their turn.
