The Texas senator tried and failed to go MAGA. Now he's trying to reclaim his independence

In the book of Job, it was written that the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. So, too, it could be said of Donald Trump, the wannabe-messiah of the conservative movement and the greatest power broker the party has ever known. In Texas, for instance, Trump hath taken away a Senate seat from the incumbent John Cornyn and awarded it by way of primary endorsement to the state’s sin-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton. But unlike Job, Cornyn has clearly decided he does not want to suffer in silence and devotion to his vengeful deity. 

In other words, the humiliated, punished senator from Texas is trying to grow a spine. 

“The president seems to revel in chaos, which is so different from any other leader that I’ve ever seen. I don’t know about you, but I like to minimize the chaos in my life,” Cornyn said in a lengthy interview with Semafor. “He just seems to revel in it.”

Cornyn’s chief revenge for Trump’s hugely impactful snub has been tepid. Mostly, he’s been refusing to wholeheartedly support Paxton in his bid against Democratic nominee James Talarico. 

“I don’t know how Paxton raises the money he’s going to need to run against Talarico — who’s got unlimited resources — in the next four and a half months,” Cornyn told Semafor. “And while Talarico is definitely a weirdo, you know, take your pick.”

Semafor notes that Cornyn did take some concrete action to push back against the administration after losing the primary, telling the White House that if they wanted to count on his vote to pass legislation, they’d have to release federal money earmarked to reimburse his state for border security measures. This is typical political hardball, but somewhat notable in that it formally introduced Cornyn as a Trump-spurned lame duck. 

“That’s one example I think of what you can do when you have some cards to play,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn the lame duck, it seems, is mildly more independent than the last iteration of the senator, who was best described as a groveling lackey. Formerly proud GOP electeds have done all kinds of humiliating things in the hope of winning a Trump endorsement, but Cornyn, who has served in the Senate since 2002, put on a particularly embarrassing display of ass-kissing in an attempt to enter Trump’s good graces.

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Some of his little degradations were simple, like posting a picture of himself reading The Art of the Deal. 

Others were more formative, like Cornyn abruptly switching his stance on the filibuster in order to support a Trump-led push on voting restriction. 

And some were downright humiliating, like the highway debacle.

“Texas is Trump Country, and this bill cements that legacy by designating nearly 1,800 miles of open-road from Texas’ Gulf Coast to the edge of the U.S.-Canadian border as I-47 to forever be remembered as Trump Interstate,” Cornyn said in a news release back in May, announcing that he would try to rename part of a highway after the president. It got even more simpering, too: “By upgrading one of our nation’s longest highways to a future interstate, this legislation will increase economic growth and improve safety, all while honoring the most consequential president of our lifetime.”

After losing to Paxton, Cornyn seemed to drop the act. The highway bill, he told the Houston Chronicle, “may not make it into my priorities the next seven months.”

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It remains to be seen whether Cornyn will use his newfound powers of independent thinking to do anything that actually impacts Trump’s agenda. If he’s like many of his compatriots, he’ll be shuttled out of power after continuing to make feeble protests. Cornyn doesn’t seem the type to go full Marjorie Taylor Greene after leaving office, but you never know. 

And never fear: where one toady discovers a spine, there’s another MAGA acolyte willing to take up the banner.

Rep. Jared Patterson, a Texas state representative, was quick to pile on and prove his devotion to Trump. 

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“During the U.S. Senate primary, we heard a lot of talk from the losing candidate about honoring President Trump with a named highway. Apparently, the promise only held true when it was politically convenient, and it is no longer a priority based on today’s news,” Patterson wrote on Twitter after Cornyn’s “priorities” quote came out. “My support for President Trump and the Republican Party isn’t tied to a campaign calendar.”

In his last election, in 2025, Patterson got Trump’s endorsement. But he’d probably do well to remember that the Lord of MAGA can always taketh away.