Texas voters fired John Cornyn last month and he cannot handle it.
Now Cornyn is telling the press that Trump "revels in chaos" – the same Trump whose endorsement Cornyn spent more than a year desperately chasing.
He has leverage, a Senate seat until January, and he just told Semafor he intends to use it.
The Man Who Voted With Trump 99.3% of the Time Now Calls Him Chaotic
Ken Paxton beat Cornyn by 28 points in the May 26 runoff – the first time a Republican incumbent senator from Texas had lost his own party's nomination since 1970.
Trump endorsed Paxton seven days before Election Day, calling him an "America First Patriot" and praising his loyalty to the MAGA movement.
Cornyn's response was to grant Semafor an exclusive interview where he said conversations with Trump are no longer "particularly useful because he can and will change his mind depending on the next person he talks to on the phone."
That is a remarkable line from a man who voted with Trump 99.3% of the time and spent the entire primary campaign begging for his endorsement.
It gets worse.
Cornyn also told Semafor he will not send a single dollar to help Paxton win in November against Democrat James Talarico.
"The president picked Paxton, and he's got $350 million dollars," Cornyn said. "I think he can spend his money. I'm going to try to help in other places."
Translation: Cornyn would rather watch Texas come dangerously close to flipping blue than act like an adult who lost a primary.
Talarico Is Not a Longshot Democrat – He Is a Fully Funded Far-Left Radical
While Cornyn nurses his wounded ego, Democrats are treating Texas like a winnable state for the first time in 30 years – and they have the cash to prove it.
Talarico raised $27 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone – a new record for any Senate campaign in a single quarter, and nearly three times what the previous Democratic Senate nominee in Texas raised over the same period.
This is not some protest candidate hoping for a miracle.
And Talarico's record is exactly what you would expect from an Austin Democrat swimming in national Democrat money.
He called ICE "secret police" and declared the border should be a "welcome mat" for illegal immigrants – then pivoted to moderate-sounding language the moment he won the Democratic primary.
He said God is nonbinary and that there are six biological sexes.
He opposed posting the Ten Commandments in Texas public schools and called it "deeply un-Christian."
Cornyn himself admitted Talarico is "definitely a weirdo" – then immediately refused to spend a dollar stopping him.
That tells you everything about where Cornyn's priorities actually are.
He knows a Talarico Senate seat puts the chamber majority in play – and he simply does not care enough about the voters who rejected him to do what any loyal Republican would do.
51 Nominations Sitting Dead While Cornyn Plays Power Games
The sabotage is not limited to the Texas Senate race.
There are 51 Trump nominations sitting stalled on the Senate Executive Calendar right now – and that does not even count two open Cabinet positions that have not made it to the calendar yet.
Cornyn told Semafor he is still undecided on Todd Blanche's attorney general nomination and made clear he plans to extract concessions before anyone gets confirmed.
He already proved he would do it – threatening to tank an immigration bill until the White House released $10 billion in border security reimbursements for Texas.
He got what he wanted, and now he has figured out a lame duck with leverage is more dangerous than a senator running for re-election.
He wants Trump to show "deference" on Cabinet picks, he is slowing the DNI nomination process, and he has made clear that one-on-one conversations with the president are no longer "particularly useful."
This is not principled conservatism.
This is a man who got fired by Texas Republicans and decided to make the rest of the party pay for it.
The Establishment Republican Playbook Has Not Changed in a Decade
Cornyn is not unique.
He is the latest in a long line of Republican establishment figures who lost to Trump-backed candidates and immediately transformed into obstacles.
Mitt Romney spent years calling Trump temperamentally unfit while voting just often enough to stay relevant.
Mike Pence broke with Trump over January 6 and never recovered.
Thom Tillis – also retiring – has been blocking Trump priorities and complaining his way through his final months.
Every single one of them frames the obstruction as "principled conservatism."
Every single one of them got rejected by Republican voters for exactly that reason.
The base made a simple calculation: these men are more interested in maintaining their Washington standing than in fighting for the people who sent them there.
They were not wrong.
Cornyn voted with Trump 99.3% of the time on paper while working behind the scenes to be the last establishment Republican standing.
Texas voters saw it coming.
The only surprise is how quickly Cornyn proved them right after losing.
Sources:
- Burgess Everett, "The president seems to revel in chaos: Cornyn goes his own way," Semafor, June 22, 2026.
- Nick Gilbertson, "Trump-Backed Ken Paxton Defeats John Cornyn in Texas GOP Senate Runoff," Breitbart, May 26, 2026.
- Kayla Guo and Alejandra Martinez, "Ken Paxton wins Republican primary runoff for US Senate," Texas Tribune, May 26, 2026.
- Staff, "Texas Senate candidate James Talarico flip-flops on border, gun issues," Fox News, June 2026.
- Houston Public Media staff, "Ken Paxton cruises to big win against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn," Houston Public Media, May 26, 2026.
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