Senator John Cornyn of Texas has been sent packing by his constituents after almost a quarter century in Washington. Cornyn is one of those old guard Establishment Republicans who portrays himself as gentlemanly and always above-the-fray in a bitterly divided political climate — sort of like Mitt Romney without the zillion grandchildren. Because of that, there was a lot of hope that he wouldn't be petulant in defeat. When he was gracious the night he was soundly defeated by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the GOP primary runoff, I had hope that Cornyn was going to be the decent guy that all of his die-hard supporters kept saying that he was.
Oh well.
Cornyn is now insisting that he's a staunch Republican who still wants what's best for the party but has been pushed to the side because of President Donald Trump and reasons and feelings and stuff. It's the same oh-so-refined hissy fit we've seen ever since Arizona voters ran Jeff Flake out of office after one term. It's a grown-up playground tantrum that can be boiled down to this: The super popular Republican president made people not like me.
Flake, Romney, Cornyn, and any other Republicans who haven't fared well in the Trump era never question what they might have done to disappoint their constituents. Paxton isn't anybody's dream candidate, and he absolutely clobbered Cornyn in the runoff. A 24-year incumbent should have been able to build up enough goodwill with his voters to withstand any primary challenge. As I've written many times, it's nigh on impossible to unseat a United States senator who has made it past his or her first term.
To plead his case as the elder statesman Republican who cares, Cornyn opted to give his first long interview after his defeat to that rock-ribbed conservative news organization, The New York Times. Nothing says, "I'm still on your side, GOP!" like hiding behind the skirt of the Gray Lady.
Here is the beginning of the article:
Senator John Cornyn was not consoled when President Trump professed on social media that the senior Republican from Texas would “remain my friend for a long time to come” after the president had enthusiastically endorsed the man who defeated Mr. Cornyn, ending his Senate career.
“If that’s the way friends treat you, you wonder about his enemies,” Mr. Cornyn said this week in his first extensive interview since his loss two weeks ago to Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas, an opponent Mr. Cornyn labeled corrupt and unfit for the Senate.
Mr. Cornyn said he had come to terms with his defeat, a stinging loss he attributed in part to public disillusionment with extreme partisan politics that led to low voter turnout. Now the Trump administration might find itself having to come to terms with Mr. Cornyn as he flexes new political freedom, joining a handful of other Senate Republicans not seeking re-election or defeated in primaries at Mr. Trump’s behest who now have added room to maneuver.
“I think it is going to be a pretty bumpy ride for the next seven months,”
Yes, it is going to be bumpy, but not because the squishes are finally being purged from the Republican Party. The Democrats are unhinged, feral beasts now and were always going to do everything in their power to make this a most miserable midterm election year.
The Flake/Romney/Cornyn wing of the GOP is resentful of the fact that President Trump has made the party into a political machine that wants to win. I'm not saying that Republicans will always win, but if Trump's attitude takes hold, they won't be rolling over for the Democrats when things are tough. Cornyn and his Establishment ilk would prefer that the Beltway boat never be rocked. They're the people who are terrified of having The New York Times say something bad about them.
They are also quite eager to have the Times pat them on the head when they've fallen out of favor with the Republican base.
I don't think that the Republican Party should be a hive mind like the Dems. I do, however, think that at this moment in history all Republican politicians need to, as we comedians say, read the room. This isn't time for internecine squabbling and endless blather about "principles." Any Republican whose principles aren't guiding him or her to want to do everything they can to keep the Democrats from gaining complete power is aiding and abetting the left in its lust to destroy the Republic. It's really that simple.
Here's something I saw on X. It's about a different issue, but the line about "the third option" is what's applicable here:
All the never-Trump “Republicans” need to study this very carefully.
— Chad Mizelle (@chad_mizelle) June 10, 2026
The choice is between those who weaponized government and those who are working tirelessly to right the ship.
The third option—pretend like this is the 1980s and a few debates will clear up the… https://t.co/Xnvwsp6dCv
Beltway Republicans who have never warmed to Trump simply don't grasp that things are never going to be the way they used to be. The Trump Derangement Syndrome symptoms will be adapted for every Republican going forward, whether he or she has ever been aligned with the president or not. Comity is dead, cremated, and its ashes have been spread up and down both coasts by mentally unwell Democrats.
That Cornyn so easily went public and proved he's on the wrong side of things makes it clear that he's been there for a while. He's really just mad that Republican voters in Texas finally figured that out.
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Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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