President Donald Trump signaled he will soon intervene in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate in Texas, urging party unity ahead of the general election and calling for the losing candidate to step aside once he makes his endorsement.
The race between longtime Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) (pictured above, left) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (pictured above, right) advanced to a May runoff after neither candidate cleared the 50 percent threshold in the primary. On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico (D-District 50) won his party’s nomination after defeating U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30).
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the ongoing Republican contest must end quickly so the party can turn its focus to defeating Democrats in November.
“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas… cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW!” Trump wrote.
He added that he would be making his endorsement soon and would “be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!”
Trump also emphasized that his endorsements historically carry significant weight within the party.
“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!” he wrote.
During an interview Thursday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Washington Bureau Chief for Breitbart News Network Matt Boyle said Trump appears intent on quickly settling the contest rather than allowing the runoff to drag on for months.
“I think the president is gonna endorse and he wants to try to make it a quick clean end to the Republican primary rather than a two and a half, three month long runoff process,” Boyle said.
Boyle noted that both campaigns are actively lobbying the president but indicated that Trump has not yet made a final decision.
“I don’t think the president’s made his mind up yet, by the way, about which one he’s gonna do. I could see him endorse Cornyn. I could also see him endorse Paxton. So we’ll see,” Boyle said.
However, Boyle predicted that whichever candidate receives Trump’s endorsement will likely win the runoff.
“The fact of the matter is that I do think the endorsement will probably seal a victory for whichever one gets it,” he said.
Boyle also pointed out that Paxton has already indicated he would remain in the race even if Trump backs his opponent.
“We’ve seen Paxton come out and say that if he’s not the one who gets the endorsement, he’s not gonna drop out,” Boyle said, adding that Cornyn’s campaign appears confident it will receive the president’s backing.
Boyle dismissed media narratives suggesting divisions within the MAGA movement, arguing that most Republican voters ultimately follow Trump’s lead.
“At the end of the day a lot of people defer to the president significantly,” Boyle said. “I trust his judgment and as does most of MAGA.”
“I see all these reports out there about MAGA divided… it all ends up being nonsense,” he continued. “People trust the president.”
Boyle described Trump as the central figure guiding the Republican Party.
“At the end of the day, he’s the boss, he’s the leader of the party. He has been for 10 years plus…he’s been leading the Republican party,” Boyle said.
Boyle also criticized what he described as entrenched political consultants aligned with Cornyn, arguing the Texas race exposed broader issues within the Republican establishment.
“I also think that what’s happened in this whole race is that the swamp, if you will, in Washington, DC… really exposed in a really terrible way,” Boyle said.
“These scumbag consultants need to be wiped aside and you need to have Trump-aligned people running everything across the party because this disdain for the voters of Texas, which extends across the nation, is not gonna help the Republicans hold or expand their majorities and either the House or the Senate and the midterms,” he added.
Despite the heated primary, Boyle predicted Republicans would defeat Talarico in the general election regardless of who wins the GOP nomination.
“I don’t think that either one of them does badly against James Talarico. I think either one of them wins the general election,” Boyle said.
He also sharply criticized the Democratic nominee’s political positions.
“James Talarico makes Jasmine Crockett look like Michele Bachmann,” Boyle said. “He’s so insane…This guy belongs in an insane asylum, not in the United States Senate.”
The discussion also turned to Trump’s renewed push for the SAVE America Act, which the president says would strengthen election security by ensuring only American citizens vote in federal elections.
Trump has urged Congress to pass the bill quickly, saying it has overwhelming public support but continues to face obstruction from Democrats.
Boyle suggested Trump could use the Senate race endorsement as leverage with Republican leadership, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), to advance the legislation.
“President Trump has an enormous amount of leverage right now,” Boyle said. “Those senators really want him to endorse Cornyn. He could demand out of them in exchange for that, that they get the SAVE Act to his desk.”
President Trump has all the leverage right now. He’s got all the cards, and we know that President Trump knows how to use leverage…Guys like Thune and these other ones really want him to endorse Cornyn. He’ll endorse Cornyn if they get him the bill,” he added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Sen John Cornyn” by Sen. John Cornyn and “TX AG Ken Paxton” is by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
