{"id":2576473,"date":"2026-03-05T13:42:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/10-times-john-cornyn-betrayed-trump-and-maga\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T13:21:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:21:04","slug":"10-times-john-cornyn-betrayed-trump-and-maga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/10-times-john-cornyn-betrayed-trump-and-maga\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Times John Cornyn Betrayed Trump And MAGA"},"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\">16<\/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%2F10-times-john-cornyn-betrayed-trump-and-maga%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=2576473&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 class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The race to become the Republican nominee in Texas&rsquo; upcoming Senate election is coming to a head. <\/p>\n<p>After failing to secure more than 50 percent of the vote during Tuesday&rsquo;s primary race, incumbent Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/john-cornyn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Cornyn<\/a> will face off against Texas Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ken-paxton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ken Paxton<\/a> in a May runoff election to determine who will represent the Grand Old Party on the state&rsquo;s 2026 ticket. While President Trump declined to make an endorsement in the contest prior to this week, it appears the president is now changing his tune. <\/p>\n<p>Trump issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/116172264831357045\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Truth Social post<\/a> on Wednesday saying that the primary race &ldquo;cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer.&rdquo; He further revealed that he &ldquo;will be making [his] Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that [he doesn&rsquo;t] Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/2026\/03\/trump-cornyn-endorsement-texas\/686232\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/03\/04\/texas-senate-trump-cornyn-endorsement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">emerged<\/a> in the hours that followed indicating that the president is preparing to endorse Cornyn, a move that puts him at odds with a sizeable portion of his base, who generally favor the MAGA-aligned Paxton. <\/p>\n<p>While Cornyn has attempted to posture himself as aligned with Trump and conservative causes throughout his 2026 reelection campaign, a look at the senator&rsquo;s record indicates that he has often sided with the interests of the GOP establishment.<\/p>\n<h2>Selling Out the Second Amendment<\/h2>\n<p>When President Biden and his party pushed for a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/22\/the-14-republicans-who-voted-to-advance-democrats-gun-control-wish-list-just-betrayed-their-base\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">major gun control package<\/a> in 2022, all Senate Republicans like Cornyn had to do was say, &ldquo;No.&rdquo; But Texas&rsquo; senior senator had other ideas.<\/p>\n<p>Cornyn not only voted for the bill that was peppered with vague language about &ldquo;dating partners&rdquo; and red flag laws; he <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/07\/if-you-like-the-second-amendment-you-dont-want-john-cornyn-anywhere-near-senate-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spearheaded<\/a> negotiations with Senate Democrats on behalf of the Republican conference. Without Cornyn and Co.&rsquo;s help, the legislation likely would have never passed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/17\/sen-john-cornyn-booed-at-texas-gop-convention-over-willingness-to-surrender-to-democrats-on-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sen. John Cornyn Booed At Texas GOP Convention Over Willingness To Surrender To Democrats On Guns<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Calling Conservatives Terrorists<\/h2>\n<p>When a group of Republican representatives voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House Speaker in 2023, Cornyn took his support for the California congressman to the extreme. Echoing rhetoric often used by leftists, the Texas senator <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/10\/04\/republican-senator-john-cornyn-joins-the-deep-state-in-calling-conservatives-terrorists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">labeled<\/a> these House Republicans as &ldquo;terrorists.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We saw a similar thing happen to [former Republican House Speaker John] Boehner, [Paul] Ryan, and now McCarthy. I&rsquo;m sure the next speaker is going to be subjected to the same terrorist attacks,&rdquo; Cornyn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/kevin-mccarthy-speaker-gop_n_651ca3a0e4b094f84021b2ab\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> at the time. The Lone Star State&rsquo;s senior senator later <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JohnCornyn\/status\/1709308878259724700?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">doubled down<\/a> on X, writing, &ldquo;A handful House members just want to blow up the institution and themselves in the process. Sad.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Attacking Efforts to Investigate Anti-Trump Lawfare<\/h2>\n<p>Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is one among several Democrat prosecutors to weaponize his office to target Trump ahead of the 2024 election. But rather than do everything to fight such outrageous lawfare, Cornyn was busy <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/22\/cornyn-attacks-house-gop-for-investigating-political-prosecution-of-trump-by-soros-funded-da\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attacking<\/a> his Republican colleagues for fighting it. <\/p>\n<p>When then-Speaker McCarthy authorized House committees to probe Bragg&rsquo;s activities in 2023, Cornyn downplayed the need for such inquiries. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s more than enough to do,&rdquo; Cornyn&nbsp;reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewDesiderio\/status\/1638278049304047616?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>. &ldquo;I would hope they would stick to the agenda they ran on when they got elected to the majority.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Cornyn would later go on to avoid directly condemning Special Counsel Jack Smith&rsquo;s lawfare against Trump that same year. When <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/4104431-gop-senators-hold-back-on-defending-trump-as-he-faces-new-indictment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asked<\/a> about potential indictments from Smith of the then-former president, the Texas senator defended the Biden Justice Department&rsquo;s ability to bring such charges.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s entirely within the purview of the Department of Justice and has nothing to do with the United States Senate,&rdquo; Cornyn said. The Texas Republican also said that he had &ldquo;no knowledge of anything approaching that&rdquo; when pressed on whether he believed Smith was a &ldquo;credible prosecutor.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Weakness on Immigration<\/h2>\n<p>Cornyn recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2026\/02\/27\/john-cornyn-texas-senate-primary-gop-paxton-00802121\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> Politico that he&rsquo;s ready to &ldquo;fix our broken immigration system&rdquo; after more than 20 years in Congress. While the senator reportedly denounced illegal immigration, he also seemingly voiced support for granting amnesty to illegal immigrants in the United States. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Remember, [Trump] offered a pathway to citizenship for 1.8 million DACA recipients,&rdquo; Cornyn said in reference to illegal aliens who came to the United States when children. &ldquo;[Trump&rsquo;s] a builder, he understands all that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Cornyn also recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4477721\/cornyn-trump-fix-broken-immigration-system-if-reelected\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">praised<\/a> America&rsquo;s broken legal immigration system in remarks to the Washington Examiner, calling it &ldquo;one of our great assets.&rdquo; More notably, however, the Lone Star State Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Politics\/top-senate-republican-john-cornyn-slams-donald-trump\/story?id=38193421\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previously<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elpasotimes.com\/story\/news\/2017\/01\/27\/cornyn-criticizes-trumps-border-initiatives\/97137444\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opposed<\/a> Trump&rsquo;s first-term efforts to build new wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and have Mexico pay for it. <\/p>\n<h2>Shilling for Ukraine Funding<\/h2>\n<p>Cornyn repeatedly <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/members\/C001056\/118\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voted<\/a> for bills shipping billions in taxpayer dollars to Ukraine. He also <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s76-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opposed<\/a> an amendment introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that sought to appoint an inspector general to oversee how such funds were being distributed to and spent by the Eastern European country. <\/p>\n<h2>Trashing Trump<\/h2>\n<p>Lambasting Trump&rsquo;s border wall proposal isn&rsquo;t the only instance in which Cornyn has gone after the Republican president. <\/p>\n<p>The Texas senator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-8853885\/Senator-John-Cornyn-facing-tough-election-battle-Texas-tries-distance-Trump.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attempted<\/a> to put space between himself and Trump leading up to the 2020 election. This behavior continued in the years after the contest, in which he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/gop-sen-john-cornyn-ditches-082508138.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> that Trump would be unelectable if he were Republicans&rsquo; 2024 presidential nominee.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We need to come up with an alternative,&rdquo; Cornyn reportedly said in 2023. &ldquo;I think President Trump&rsquo;s time has passed him by and what&rsquo;s the most important thing to me is we have a candidate who can actually win.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>It &ldquo;all boils down to electability&rdquo; and &ldquo;there&rsquo;s no prize for coming in second [place],&rdquo; he added. <\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<h2>Ignoring Covid Shot Side Effects<\/h2>\n<p>Within years of their release to the public, it became clear that the Covid shots were not as &ldquo;safe&rdquo; and &ldquo;effective&rdquo; as they were marketed to be. At the time, a few Republicans were <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/30\/heres-where-every-gop-senator-stands-on-the-risky-covid-shots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">courageous<\/a> enough to voice concerns about their potentially harmful side effects.<\/p>\n<p>The same can&rsquo;t be said for Cornyn when The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/30\/heres-where-every-gop-senator-stands-on-the-risky-covid-shots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressed<\/a> him on the matter in 2023. <\/p>\n<p>A Cornyn representative said that the senator would use his position to keep overseeing federal health agencies responsible for their approval and supported &ldquo;further investigation into how the CDC and FDA make decisions on vaccine recommendations.&rdquo; The rep stopped short of saying whether Cornyn was worried about the shots&rsquo; side effects, however.<\/p>\n<h2>Pushing for Critical Race Theory<\/h2>\n<p>Helping Democrats pass gun control wasn&rsquo;t the only legislative activity Cornyn was engaged in throughout 2022. As The Federalist previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/24\/cornyn-other-republicans-push-for-biden-administration-to-expand-critical-race-theory-in-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, he also reintroduced a bill that would &ldquo;enable the federal government to impose critical race theory (CRT) &mdash; that is, state-sanctioned racism and anti-Americanism &mdash; on public school civics courses via federal grants.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Shilling for FISA <\/h2>\n<p>America&rsquo;s intel agencies have long abused provisions of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/fisa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/16\/top-senate-republicans-ask-bondi-to-support-a-fisa-system-that-spies-on-americans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spy<\/a> on unsuspecting Americans. Most notably the Obama FBI weaponized the program to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/watchdog-demands-dhs-inspector-general-investigate-new-abuses-of-surveillance-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">surveil<\/a> Trump campaign official <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/18\/spygate-101-a-primer-on-the-russia-collusion-hoaxs-years-long-plot-to-take-down-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Carter Page<\/a> ahead of the 2016 election as part of the intel apparatus&rsquo; infamous Russia collusion hoax.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, despite these abuses, Cornyn has been one of the program&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thune.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/2020\/3\/mcconnell-thune-graham-burr-and-cornyn-strongly-support-fisa-legislation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">biggest<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s148-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defenders<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>During her Senate confirmation hearing to become director of national intelligence, for example, Tulsi Gabbard faced <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/30\/gabbards-senate-critics-are-more-interested-in-protecting-americas-spy-agencies-than-fixing-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not-so-subtle bullying<\/a> from Cornyn and other Senate Republicans to espouse unfettered support for such surveillance tools.<\/p>\n<h2>Backing Biden Spending Bombs<\/h2>\n<p>While hardly an outlier among congressional Republicans, Cornyn <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/members\/C001056\/117\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repeatedly<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/members\/C001056\/118\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">helped<\/a> pass massive Biden-era spending packages that have further blown up the U.S. national debt. He also <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s268-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voted<\/a> for the 2022 CHIPS Act ($250 billion), which Heritage Action noted &ldquo;blends corporate welfare with industrial policy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>   Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The race to become the Republican nominee in Texas\u2019 upcoming Senate election is coming to a head. After failing to secure more than 50 percent of the vote during Tuesday\u2019s primary race, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn will face off against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May runoff election to determine who will represent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2576474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/John-Cornyn.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[22362,5656,5894,3911,3634],"class_list":["post-2576473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-cornyn","tag-maga","tag-politics","tag-republican","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/John-Cornyn.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576473","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2576473"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2577424,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2576473\/revisions\/2577424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2576474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2576473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2576473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2576473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}