President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will make an endorsement in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate battles by the end of the day, ending months of speculation about who would be boosted by his support.
Trump said that around 1 p.m., he would reveal who he is backing in the Texas Senate race, which features a highly competitive primary runoff between Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“Actually, I’m going to be making an endorsement today in Texas,” the president said. “I’m going to be putting out an endorsement in a little while in Texas, the great state — you know, I won Texas all six times, meaning primaries and the race, and I got the highest vote in the history of Texas — and I love Texas, but I’m going to be making an endorsement at about 12:30, 1 today for the big race, the Senate race in Texas, and I hope you find it good.”
Trump suggested that, with his endorsement, Make America Great Again-aligned candidates could make a clean sweep in high-stakes primaries. The president referenced Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) recent primary loss in Louisiana, which came after Trump endorsed his rival, as well as Kentucky’s highly competitive Senate primary race, where Republican voters on Tuesday will choose between Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) or former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, whom the president has vigorously backed.
“You know, you take a look at what happened in Louisiana two nights ago with a certain senator [Cassidy] that was very disloyal to me, and to the Republican Party, he’s not even allowed to run for office,” Trump said. “We have another big race. This guy, Massie, is terrible. Let’s see what happens. It’s not easy beating incumbents, but we have a great guy running against Massie. Massie is a terrible, I think the worst congressman the Republican Party’s ever had. That’ll be tonight. That’ll be good television, and we’ll see what happens there, but I think MAGA’S never been more together.”
TRUMP REVENGE TOUR BARRELS TOWARD MASSIE WITH CASSIDY AND INDIANA IN ITS WAKE
In Texas, Cornyn and Paxton have been locked in a heated battle for months, as the attorney general seeks to oust the incumbent lawmaker from the seat he’s held for over two decades. The pair is headed to a runoff election on May 26 after neither candidate received the votes necessary to clinch the GOP nomination in the March 3 primary. Trump refused to endorse ahead of the primary, saying at the time that he liked all the candidates.
Trump said this week he was ready to make an endorsement just one week before voters head to the polls. Whoever wins the runoff is set to face Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico in the general election. The latest polling shows Talarico deadlocked with both Paxton and Cornyn to win the seat in November.
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