Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said President Donald Trump is causing the GOP a midterm “disaster” and will face “the most miserable two years of his life” during a newly released interview with The New York Times.
Cornyn commented on Trump’s statement that he would be his “friend for a long time to come,” even though Trump supported Texas Attorney Ken Paxton (R), who beat Cornyn in the Republican primary with Trump’s help.
Cornyn said the next seven months will be tough for the party.
He noted that Trump’s actions against lawmakers like himself, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) give them more freedom and leverage.
He added, “As the president told President Zelensky a year ago — he said, ‘You don’t have any cards.’
Well, we’ve got some cards to play.”
Cornyn said he is not seeking revenge but wants Republicans to keep the Senate because he fears they might lose the House in November.
In the interview, he shared a growing concern among Senate Republicans that Trump is harming his own party with his self-serving decisions and insistence on “slavish” loyalty, leading to a midterm “disaster” and “the most miserable two years of his life.”
Cornyn said he will decide when to follow Trump’s lead.
One area he mentioned is the special protection from I.R.S. scrutiny granted to Trump and his family through a settlement on the tax data leak.
He said that protection should be overturned.
“I think that’s a terrible mistake,” Cornyn said.
“The president needs to be treated like everybody else.”
Cornyn believes the impact of Trump’s actions will go beyond his race.
He is a reliable conservative with a 99.3 percent voting record in line with the president. Unlike Senator Bill Cassidy, he did not vote to remove Trump after the Capitol attack. Still, he said Trump treated him unfairly.
“If he would do that to me, he would do that to anybody,” Cornyn said.
“There’s never going to be good enough for him, other than 100 percent, you know, slavish adherence to whatever he wants. But that’s not what the senator’s role is supposed to be, especially in terms of checks and balances.”
Cornyn stood by his criticism of Paxton and said he wouldn’t campaign or raise money for his primary opponent, which hurt Paxton since Cornyn was a big fundraiser.
But he fears the GOP is facing a tough midterm and Trump for a difficult final two years, partly because of self-inflicted wounds like supporting Paxton, which put the Texas seat at risk.
“It’s going to make things harder, certainly more expensive in Texas, and make it harder around the country,” Cornyn said, predicting that Trump would regret his actions.
“I don’t say that with any sort of desire for vengeance; I just think that’s the way it’s going to be. He’s going to have the most miserable two years of his life in the last two years of his term, I think, because I think November is going to be a disaster.”
“Congratulations to Ken Paxton on such a tremendous win, and to John Cornyn for having run a strong and powerful race but, more importantly, having had a truly great career.
John will remain my friend for a long time to come, as we both watch Ken become a fantastic, common sense Senator, one who is respected by all,” wrote Trump in a Truth Social post celebrating Paxton’s victory last month.
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