The 8-figure mission to try to rescue Cornyn

The Daily Punch

Punchbowl News

News, Government, Politics

4.3 • 707 Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sen. John Cornyn is in deep trouble. With polling showing him trailing Texas AG Ken Paxton by double digits, the Senate Leadership Fund is warning donors it could take tens of millions to save his seat — and hundreds of millions more if Paxton wins the primary. Anna and Jake break down the stakes, the GOP’s redistricting push and why the Trump administration is staying on the sidelines…for now. Plus: It’s inflation report day, and Washington is already spinning the numbers. We look at how the latest CPI release could shape the political fight over Trump’s trade policies. Punchbowl News is on YouTube! Subscribe to our channel today to see all the new ways we’re investing in video. Want more in-depth daily coverage from Congress? Subscribe to our free Punchbowl News AM newsletter at punchbowl.news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:41.1	Good morning. I'm Anna Palmer.
0:42.4	And I'm Jake Sherman.
0:45.4	And welcome to The Daily Punch, brought to by Punchable News.
0:47.9	It's Tuesday, August 12th, 2025.
0:49.0	Let's get into the mix.
0:51.0	Here are your Washington headlines of the day.
0:55.9	Number one, we've got some news inside the Republican effort to rescue John Cornyn.
0:59.5	Number two, it's a big inflation report day today.
1:07.0	And number three, veteran Texas, Lloyd Doggett, is laying down a marker in response to the Texas GOP redistricting efforts.
1:08.4	All right, Jake, let's get into it.
1:12.0	We are leading Punchball News AM with some big news here.
1:18.6	We have been talking for weeks, maybe months now, about John Cornyn and his troubles fending off a GOP primary challenge by Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state. And now the Senate Leadership
1:24.8	Fund has the data out to its donors urging them to spend big on
1:30.9	this race because indeed Cornyn is in trouble.
1:34.2	Yeah, this is a huge story for us and a huge story for Senate Republicans.
1:38.3	Let's just be clear about what they're saying.
	...

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