Texans and MAGA voters’ first instinct if President Donald Trump follows through with his reported endorsement of Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas primary will be anger. The real object of their ire, however, is not Trump but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has spent more time campaigning to save another GOP establishment pawn from losing his upper chamber seat than he has saving the country from the clutches of the radical left.
It should not be difficult for a Republican trifecta to pass popular legislation enshrining the GOP’s election integrity agenda — or any other useful conservative policy — in law. Doing so would not only insulate Republicans from some of the shenanigans that have plagued elections all across the country, but it would also prove to Americans that members of the red party have earned reelection come November.
Yet, with Thune at the helm, the Senate has repeatedly stalled the SAVE America Act. Despite possessing a procedural option that would force Democrats to publicly explain their opposition to photo ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements in federal elections, Thune resorted to excuses about Senate bandwidth and practiced failure theater to get out of his responsibility to represent Republican voters.
Thune has spent more time and effort, it seems, to protect his friend and ally from getting primaried by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton by goading Trump into handing the incumbent an endorsement.
“If the establishment fought as hard for the SAVE America Act as they do for a weak incumbent who spent $100 million only to be rejected by nearly 60% of GOP voters, it would already be law. It’s sad incumbent protection is more important than advancing President Trump’s agenda,” Paxton posted on Thursday.
Maybe Paxton is scrambling ahead of what has turned out to be one of the most heated primary-turned-runoffs in the nation and the looming news that Trump could endorse his opponent. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s right.
“If the president can weigh in, it would make it enormously helpful,” Thune quipped to Punchbowl News on Wednesday.
Thune was careful to note that he thought Cornyn “had a great night,” despite failing to secure a majority of Texans’ votes during Tuesday’s primary election. He also hinted that Trump’s blessing “saves everybody a lot of money,” especially since Cornyn (and Senate leadership) already poured tens of millions of dollars into a race that only guaranteed him a runoff election in May.
Trump has little reason to honor Thune’s request to give Cornyn a boost. In addition to tabling the SAVE America Act against Trump and Americans’ wishes, Thune is largely responsible for stonewalling Trump’s nominees. Cornyn and Thune both also have an anti-Trump track record that would raise any MAGA eyebrows.
The enticing narrative repeated by Thune and other establishment GOP allies, however, is that Cornyn is the sole Republican candidate who has what it takes to beat out the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate, James Talarico.
“It’s very clear that John Cornyn at the top of the ticket keeps Texas red. Again, Paxton at the top of the ticket, the polling all shows this, puts that seat at risk, and that has implications down-ballot on House races,” Thune said on Fox News.
Even if that’s the case, Paxton has promised to “consider dropping out of this race if Senate Leadership agrees to lift the filibuster and passes the SAVE America Act.”
This ultimatum should be a win-win for Republicans like Thune and Cornyn, who could add a legislative win and an election win to their résumés. That is, unless they don’t actually want the SAVE America Act to become law. Instead, they want Trump do the dirty work for them by backing Cornyn, which they know would discourage the populist base, and allow them to keep up their “our hands are tied on the SAVE Act” schtick.
The results of this runoff, and whether Cornyn’s challenger will actually participate in the runoff, are uncertain. What is certain, however, is that the establishment GOP members will stop at nothing to keep their power to do nothing.
Jordan Boyd is an award-winning staff writer at The Federalist and producer of “The Federalist Radio Hour.” Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.
