President Donald Trump finished his monthlong revenge tour in Texas on Tuesday night.
The president’s national approval ratings may be near their weakest overall. But a series of red-state primaries in May have shown that conservative voters remain fiercely supportive of Trump – and willing to turn against those he deems disloyal.
After toppling incumbents in Indiana, Kentucky and Louisiana, Trump got what he wanted in Texas when Ken Paxton, the controversial state attorney general, defeated four-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
Now, Republicans face the prospect of ponying up to defend a red-state seat in a race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico that could become the most expensive contest in history.
Republican senators and top operatives believed Cornyn was a shoo-in for reelection if he could survive the primary and that Paxton was a weaker general election candidate. But Trump decided to ignore months of Senate leadership’s lobbying for the president to back Cornyn or stay out of the runoff by issuing a late endorsement of Paxton. Trump’s move effectively sealed Cornyn’s political fate.
