{"id":2570873,"date":"2026-02-17T22:49:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T03:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fetterman-suggests-trump-back-cornyn-to-lock-down-senate-race\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T22:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T03:50:29","slug":"fetterman-suggests-trump-back-cornyn-to-lock-down-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fetterman-suggests-trump-back-cornyn-to-lock-down-senate-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Fetterman suggests Trump back Cornyn to \u2018lock down\u2019 Senate race"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffetterman-suggests-trump-back-cornyn-to-lock-down-senate-race%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2570873&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Sen. John fetterman suggested that President Donald Trump and Republicans could \u201clock down\u201d the Texas Senate seat by rallying behind incumbent John Cornyn in a three-way GOP primary against Ken Paxton and Wesley Hunt. The remark came as trump said he hadn\u2019t decided on an endorsement and as Gov. Greg Abbott remained neutral, with polling not clearly favoring Cornyn. The primary could head to a runoff on May 27 if no candidate clears 50% in the race, highlighting Cornyn\u2019s vulnerability within the Republican field.The contest has <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >drawn substantial fundraising<\/a>, including nearly $18 million spent by Rick Perry\u2019s Lone Star Freedom Project to keep Cornyn in office. In the general election, Democrats Jasmine Crockett or James Talarico are the leading contenders, with their interviews drawing scrutiny over the FCC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fcc-commish-kamalas-snl-appearance-specially-designed-to-evade-federal-regulations\/\" title=\"FCC Commish: Kamala&#039;s SNL Appearance Specially &#039;Designed to Evade&#039; Federal Regulations\">equal-time rule<\/a>; the outcome could hinge on whether one Republican candidate consolidates support before the runoff.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Fetterman suggests Trump &lsquo;lock down&rsquo; Texas Senate race with Cornyn endorsement<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2508025\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-fetterman\/\">John Fetterman <\/a>(D-PA) offered Republicans a suggestion on Tuesday on how to ensure a competitive <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/senate\/\">Senate<\/a> seat remains in GOP hands.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Fetterman contended that President<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\"> Donald Trump<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republicans\/\">Republicans<\/a> have the opportunity to &ldquo;lock down&rdquo; Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\">John Cornyn&rsquo;s <\/a>(R-TX) hotly contested seat by coming together to endorse the incumbent over two other leading GOP candidates looking to beat Cornyn in a three-way primary. Fetterman&rsquo;s comments echo the viewpoint that, among the GOP field, Cornyn holds the most viable chance of beating a field of Democratic contenders eying a chance to flip the seat blue.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4460907\/teresa-benitez-thompson-nevada-house-campaign\/\">Ex-Nevada Assembly leader launches Democratic House run after Amodei retirement<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4460710\/trump-endorses-texas-republicans-leaves-out-dan-crenshaw\/\">Trump endorses Texas Republicans but leaves out Dan Crenshaw<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4460164\/trump-endorsement-tracker-gop-2026-election-primaries\/\">Trump endorsement tracker: Here&#8217;s who the president has picked in GOP midterm election primaries<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;For me, like for Texas, for example, Cornyn is a reasonable Republican, and now that would be money in the bank. But now I don&rsquo;t know why politically &mdash; I&rsquo;m not sure why the Republicans and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-wouldnt-last-5-minutes-as-an-air-traffic-controller-buttigieg\/\" title=\"... \u2018wouldn\u2019t last 5 minutes as an air traffic controller\u2019: Buttigieg\">president wouldn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t sit on that and just lock down Texas,&rdquo; Fetterman said during <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oRtUsO22ZMk\">an interview<\/a> on Fox Business Network&rsquo;s <em>Mornings with Maria<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Fetterman&rsquo;s comments came hours after Trump told reporters he couldn&rsquo;t endorse a GOP candidate in the race, saying it was too difficult to pick between Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX). Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has also stayed neutral as the March primary inches closer, even as recent polling has <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/polls\/texas-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html\">not appeared favorable<\/a> to Cornyn&rsquo;s hopes of winning the March 3 primary outright, instead handing Paxton and Hunt an edge, according to surveys aggregated by the <em>New York Times<\/em>. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve all supported me. They&rsquo;re all good, and you&rsquo;re supposed to pick one. So, we&rsquo;ll see what happens, but I support all three,&rdquo; Trump said Monday evening. &ldquo;I just haven&rsquo;t made a decision on that race yet. It&rsquo;s got a ways to go.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The three Republicans have angled to portray themselves as the most pro-Trump candidates as they vie for Trump&rsquo;s endorsement. The divisive three-way race could likely head to a May 27 runoff, which would only be averted if one of the contenders tops 50% of the vote in the primary next month.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, Cornyn won a fourth term in office by under 10 percentage points, marking the closest reelection battle of his career.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4460051\/colbert-posts-james-talarico-interview-youtube-fcc-equal-time-rule\/\"><strong>COLBERT POSTS JAMES TALARICO INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE AFTER CBS PULLS IT OFF AIR OVER FCC EQUAL TIME RULE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>His latest bid has attracted millions in funding, with former Republican <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/rick-perry\/\">Gov. Rick Perry&rsquo;s<\/a> Lone Star Freedom Project promising Tuesday the group would spend &ldquo;whatever we need&rdquo; to keep Cornyn in office. Perry&rsquo;s group has already spent nearly $18 million on the race, according to the <em>Texas Tribune<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Whoever wins the March contest will likely face either Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) or Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, whose <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4451824\/fcc-investigates-the-view-democratic-candidate-interview-equal-time-policy\/\">recent interviews <\/a>with <em>The View<\/em> and Stephen Colbert have drawn scrutiny due to the Federal Communications Commission&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4460516\/fcc-equal-time-rule-colbert-talarico-interview\/\">equal-time rule<\/a>, in the general election. The pair are the Democratic front-runners in the Senate race and have engaged in an intense rivalry ahead of the party&rsquo;s primary.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fetterman: Trump should back Cornyn to lock Texas race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2570874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AP25128059730256.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[22362,7921,3634],"class_list":["post-2570873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cornyn","tag-fetterman","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AP25128059730256.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2570873"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2570877,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2570873\/revisions\/2570877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2570874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2570873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2570873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2570873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}