President Trump on Thursday accused two Texas Republicans of sabotaging Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Senate bid and preemptively blamed them for a potential Republican loss.
“[Sen.] John Cornyn, and his Liddle’ Buddy, Super RINO, Karl Rove, are doing everything possible to make it hard for Ken Paxton … to win the upcoming Midterm Election,” the president said on social media.
Mr. Cornyn is the incumbent Republican senator for Texas, and Karl Rove is a former top aide to President George W. Bush who worked in Texas politics for decades.
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“If Ken Paxton loses, it will be because of WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Political Hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove, who have ineffectively opposed me for my entire political career,” wrote Mr. Trump.
Since losing the Republican primary to Trump-endorsed Mr. Paxton, Mr. Cornyn has repeatedly criticized him.
Mr. Paxton is locked in a tight race with Democrat James Talarico.
“Paxton’s a poor campaigner,” Mr. Cornyn said in August. “He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election.”
Mr. Cornyn held a September fundraiser in Dallas to benefit six Republican Senate candidates, but not Mr. Paxton.
Mr. Rove has also spoken harshly of Mr. Paxton.
“If John Cornyn were the nominee, this race would be over,” Mr. Rove said at a Texas Tribune event in September. He said Mr. Paxton’s scandals could hurt him “in the court of public opinion.”
The state House impeached Mr. Paxton in 2023 on corruption charges, but the state Senate acquitted him.
In the social media post, Mr. Trump called on supporters of Mr. Cornyn to back Mr. Paxton.
“Your favorite President (ME!) is asking all of those who supported Senator John Cornyn to UNITE, and immediately switch your support to Ken Paxton,” he wrote.“We cannot take a chance on having a FREAKO, sometimes referred to as James TalaFREAKO, as our man in Washington, D.C.”
A recent poll by Quantus Insights indicated 87% of Texas Republican voters supported Mr. Paxton in the matchup, with 7% favoring Mr. Talarico.
The same poll showed Mr. Paxton leading by half a point overall — well within the 3.6% margin of error — suggesting that consolidating Republican support could be the key to victory for the Republican.
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