Trump says blame Cornyn and Rove if Paxton loses Texas Senate race
The president posted on Truth Social that Republican nominee Ken Paxton would only lose to Democrat James Talarico because of "weak and ineffective political hacks."
At a glance
- Trump said Cornyn and Karl Rove would be to blame if Ken Paxton loses the Texas Senate race.
- Paxton, the Texas attorney general, faces Democrat James Talarico, who leads recent polls by low-to-mid single digits.
- GOP spending in the race has topped $370 million, per AdImpact, making it the most expensive race of the cycle.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that if Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton loses his race, incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn and conservative commentator Karl Rove will be to blame.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused the two of "doing everything possible to make it hard" for Paxton, the state's attorney general, to defeat Democratic nominee James Talarico.
"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," Trump wrote.
Cornyn's office and Rove did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.
A reliably red state turns competitive
Trump's preemptive blame-casting came as Texas has surprisingly become one of the most competitive battlegrounds of the 2026 midterm cycle. Most recent polls show state Rep. Talarico maintaining a lead in the low-to-mid single digits over Paxton.
Texas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1988. In 2024, Texans voted for Trump over Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by nearly 14 percentage points.
A costly race
Groups backing Republicans have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the contest, making it the most expensive race of the cycle as the GOP tries to stave off Democrats' goal of winning majority control of the Senate. GOP spending has topped $370 million so far, eclipsing Democratic spending by nearly $235 million, according to AdImpact.
Trump's decision to back Paxton in the Republican primary delivered a major blow to Cornyn, a four-term incumbent the president viewed as disloyal. The move was also seen as a major gamble, given Paxton's history of scandal and opposition to him within his own party.
Rove's break with the party
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Rove, calling him a "loser" and urging Fox News to stop putting him on air. Rove, who was a senior advisor to former President George W. Bush, "is so bad for the Republican Party, and completely wrong so often," Trump wrote in a Sept. 14 Truth Social post.
Two days later, Rove wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed saying he would back a Democratic candidate in a different race in Texas, voting blue for just the second time in his life.
Source: CNBC Top News.
Questions and answers
- Why did Trump blame John Cornyn and Karl Rove for Ken Paxton's race?
- Trump said on Truth Social that if Paxton loses, it will be because of "weak and ineffective political hacks" like Cornyn and Rove, whom he accused of doing everything possible to make it hard for Paxton to win.
- Who is running in the Texas Senate race in 2026?
- Republican Ken Paxton, the state attorney general and Trump's endorsed candidate, faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. Paxton beat incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary.
- How much has been spent on the Texas Senate race?
- Groups backing Republicans have spent more than $370 million so far, nearly $235 million more than Democratic spending, according to AdImpact. It is the most expensive race of the cycle.
