Ken Paxton PAC runs TV ads accusing John Cornyn of 'betraying' Trump amid his Mar-a-Lago visit

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: A super PAC backing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Senate race has launched a television advertising campaign as President Donald Trump spends the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

The ads come as Trump weighs whether to endorse a candidate in the closely watched Republican primary runoff between Paxton and Sen John Cornyn. With neither candidate securing enough votes in the March 3 GOP primary, the endorsement has become a key factor ahead of the May 26 runoff.

Lone Star Liberty PAC targets John Cornyn in new ad

Lone Star Liberty PAC released a new television ad on Friday, March 13, attacking Paxton’s opponent, Cornyn, accusing him of having “betrayed” Trump. The one-minute advertisement criticizes Cornyn for his votes to confirm former Attorney General Merrick Garland and Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general in 2021.

The ad claims, “John Cornyn betrayed President Trump, and he doesn’t deserve our trust.” It concludes with a clip from earlier in the week in which Cornyn tells an NBC News reporter to “go away.”

The move comes as Trump is reportedly still considering whether to endorse a candidate in the race.

The Senate contest advanced to a runoff after neither Paxton nor Cornyn received enough votes to win outright in the March 3 Republican primary. The winner of the May 26 runoff will go on to face Texas state Rep James Talarico, a Democrat, in the November general election.

Meanwhile, top Republicans on Capitol Hill have been lobbying Trump behind the scenes to support Cornyn. Their concern is that the seat could become more difficult for Republicans to defend in the general election if Paxton wins the nomination, given controversies surrounding his tenure as attorney general.

Trump weighs endorsement as SAVE America Act debate intensifies

Trump has so far declined to publicly endorse either candidate but has indicated that he may soon make a decision. In a phone interview with NBC News on Saturday, Trump said he “like[s] both candidates very much” and expected to decide within the next week.

“A lot has to do with the SAVE America Act. A lot is going to determine — Republicans have to get that passed, because that will secure voting in this country,” the Republican leader said.

Earlier, Trump reportedly asked that whichever candidate he did not endorse should drop out of the race. Paxton said he would consider doing so if Senate leaders agreed to lift the filibuster to advance the SAVE Act.

The proposed nationwide voter ID bill would require proof of US citizenship to register in federal elections. Republicans have been under pressure to pass the legislation while midterm primaries are already underway in several states.

Although the bill has passed the House of Representatives, it has stalled in the Senate because Republicans lack the 60 votes required to overcome a Democratic filibuster and move the measure forward. 

On Wednesday, Cornyn shifted his longstanding position against eliminating the filibuster. In an op-ed published in the New York Post, he wrote, “After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and homeland security funding past the Democrats’ obstruction, through the Senate, and on the president’s desk for his signature.”

Later that day, Cornyn rejected the suggestion that the change in position was an attempt to win Trump’s endorsement. “I’d say that’s not true,” he said when asked about the speculation.