Trump Screws Himself So Badly on Tex. Race that GOPers Visibly Stunned

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2026

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Donald Trump just endorsed MAGA nutjob Ken Paxton in the Texas GOP primary for Senate, potentially killing off establishment incumbent Senator John Cornyn. As GOP Senators absorbed this news, reporters described them as “visibly dismayed” and “stone-faced.” Senator Lisa Murkowski openly declared that Trump has now put the seat “in jeopardy,” asking: “How does that help strengthen the president’s hand when we lose a state like Texas?” Translation: Trump has screwed himself and his party in a big way. This might cost them the seat, and at a minimum it makes it much harder to hold. So is Texas actually gettable for Democrats? We talked to Democratic operative Sawyer Hackett, a veteran of Texas races. He explains why Paxton is much weaker than Cornyn, why a perfect storm of conditions in the state could bring about the unthinkable, what Democrat James Talarico’s path to victory looks like, and what could still go wrong for Democrats. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
0:16.4	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
0:33.5	Donald Trump just endorsed Maga Nutschab Ken Paxton in the Texas GOP primary for Senate.
0:40.8	This all but ensures a weaker GOP nominee, which improves Democratic odds in Texas and makes a Dem Senate takeover a little bit more likely. In fact, Republican senators were furious about
0:47.5	what they regarded as a betrayal. But Trump made things clear in his endorsement. Paxton got
0:53.9	it because he was loyal to Trump, the only thing that matters.
0:58.0	Too bad, Republicans. This is the guy you hitched yourselves to.
1:02.0	So does this mean Texas actually is getable for Democrats?
1:06.0	Or is heartbreak looming once again?
1:09.0	Sawyer Hackett, a Democratic operative who has worked on numerous Texas races and knows the state
1:14.2	well, is going to walk us through all of it.
1:16.4	Sawyer, thanks for coming on.
1:18.4	Good to be with you, Greg.
1:20.7	So in a long-truth social rant, Trump endorsed Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas.
1:25.9	Trump called Paxton someone who has, quote,
1:28.5	always been extremely loyal to me and our amazing MAGA movement. Trump also cited Paxton's
1:35.2	support for ending the Senate filibuster to pass the SAVE Act, which is a disgusting voter suppression
1:40.2	bill, and Trump ripped Senator John Cornyn, the current GOP incumbent, as, quote,
1:45.7	not supportive of me when times were tough. Soyer, your reaction to that? Yeah, I mean, you said it up
1:52.9	top. This is all about loyalty, right? I mean, he mentioned, you know, Paxton's loyalty to Trump in the
1:58.6	first sentence of that multi-paragraph statement goes on to talk about the filibuster.
2:04.3	And this is kind of coming up in the context of him wanting to build this ballroom and overturned the parliamentarians ruling on the ballroom funding.
	...

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