'All out war': Trump sets off 'alarm bells' with Texas snub
The Texas race for the U.S. Senate is turning into a massive "mess," reported NOTUS on Monday.
President Donald Trump was in the state on Friday to view the aftermath of a disastrous flood disaster, where he gushed about its Republican leaders like Rep. Chip Roy, Gov. Greg Abbott, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. But when it came to Sen. John Cornyn, all the lawmaker got was an acknowledgement that he was there.
"For Cornyn, the alarm bells are clearly going off," the report said.
According to NOTUS, Trump is "staying on the sidelines — for the moment" as the four-term senator runs to return to Congress next year. He's facing a tough primary challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton.
There is a concern that if Trump backs Paxton, Cornyn could go down in the primary.
The report described a recent meeting at the White House with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who is fighting to help Cornyn. One person familiar with the conversations with Trump told NOTUS that "Trump is cautiously waiting to see what happens in the polls."
The reason the race has become such a GOP crisis is that the Democratic candidate, and former representative, Colin Allred, has a pathway to beat Paxton if he becomes the nominee. Even if Paxton were able to eke out a win against Allred, it would cost the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) a lot of money to defend a Republican seat that hasn't gone blue since 1988.
During the last fundraising quarter, Cornyn still outraised Paxton, but the attorney general managed to bring in $2.9 million in just three months.
"With or without Trump endorsing, the Republican primary could turn into an all-out war — and that’s before either party has a nominee," the report said.
It's already turning ugly, however. Last week, NRSC spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez commented about Paxton's recently announced divorce.
“No one should have to endure what Angela Paxton has, and we pray for her as she chooses to stand up for herself and her family during this difficult time," she said.
Rodriguez also reiterated that without Cornyn, the seat could “fall into Democrat[ic] hands.”