Paxton or Cornyn? Trump pledges 'early' endorsement in Texas to avoid tearing party apart in November

Donald Trump assured that he will endorse a candidate in the Republican Senate primary in Texas. After the race between incumbent Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton end up in a runoff, the president anticipated announcing his decision "soon." In addition, he will ask the candidate who does not get his endorsement to end his candidacy.

The Texas Senate primary took place last Tuesday and was the most expensive in history. In the final weeks of campaigning, ad spending topped $110 million.

As neither Paxton nor Cornyn exceeded 50% of the vote, they advanced to a runoff scheduled for May 26. On the Democratic side, James Talarico defeated Jasmine Crockett in the first round.

While Trump stayed on the sidelines and did not endorse any candidate before the election, he promised to announce his endorsement in the coming days to prevent the Republican Party from coming into the general election damaged against Talarico. In addition, extending such a competitive primary would divert resources that Republicans could spend on other races in key states.

"The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas, a State I LOVE and won 3 times in Record Numbers (the HIGHEST vote ever recorded, by far!!!), cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW! We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively!" the President wrote on his Truth Social account.

"Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough. Now, this one, must be PERFECT! My Endorsements within the Republican Party have been virtually insurmountable! It is such an honor to realize and say that almost everyone I Endorse WINS, and wins by a lot, especially in Texas! I will be making my Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair? We must win in November!!!" he added.

When it comes to making his case, Paxton comes across as the MAGA candidate in the race, much more aligned with Trump's ideas than Cornyn. In turn, the current senator defends himself with his voting record with Trump and claims to have a much better chance of winning in November than Paxton, whose political career in Texas has been more scandalous.

In the coming days, the Senate Republican leadership is expected to try to convince Trump to back Cornyn, who is seeking his fifth term in the upper chamber.

One of them is John Thune, Republican majority leader in the Senate, who stated the following after Tuesday's primary: "[If] Trump endorses early, it saves everybody a lot of money, and … 10 weeks of a spirited campaign on our side that keeps us from spending time focusing on the Democrats. (...) If the president can weigh in it would be enormously helpful."

"I would encourage the president to endorse him," John Barrasso, the No. 2 in the Republican leadership, noted on the matter about Cornyn.