'Total scumbag move': MAGA rages as Trump faces demands to end Texas GOP civil war

Some Texas Republicans had signaled they hoped their nominee would face Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in a Senate race that is now headed for a runoff between incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn and embattled MAGA firebrand Attorney General Ken Paxton. Democratic state Rep. James Talarico’s win in Tuesday’s primary has further complicated matters for the Texas GOP, which now faces a grueling 12-week — and potentially $100 million — brawl to choose its nominee.

President Donald Trump has signaled he does not want that fight, and on Wednesday floated endorsing one of the GOP candidates and asking the other to withdraw from the race.

“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW! We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively!”

“I will be making my Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair? We must win in November!!!”

According to Politico, Trump is being pushed by multiple Republicans to endorse Senator Cornyn.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday that he hopes the president’s endorsement comes “soon,” remarks he made “hours after making his latest plea on Cornyn’s behalf to the president.”

Republicans have “warned Trump that if scandal-plagued Paxton becomes the nominee, it could cost Republicans a seat they have held since 1961. There’s even more GOP anxiety now that state Rep. James Talarico secured the Democratic nomination — a candidate many believe could give Democrats their best chance at flipping the seat.”

But if he puts his thumb on the scale and wipes out MAGA favorite Paxton, Trump’s MAGA base has made clear they will be furious.

Far-right influencer, activist, and provocateur Laura Loomer, who reportedly has ties inside the Oval Office, “made her choice for the GOP nominee clear in a post on X on Wednesday,” The Daily Beast reported.

“JUST IN: President Trump says he will soon endorse in the Texas Senate GOP race, & whoever he doesn’t endorse must drop out,” Loomer wrote. “Hopefully he endorses @KenPaxtonTX, because @JohnCornyn has a long record of being anti-Trump, pro-Islam, weak on illegal immigration, and anti 2A.”

Numerous other MAGA world influencers also urged the president to endorse Paxton.

“Mr. President @realDonaldTrump,” right-wing Blaze TV host Sara Gonzales wrote in a post on X. “I am one of your biggest supporters and I am urging you as someone who is in the Texas grassroots: do NOT endorse Cornyn. It will be one of your biggest mistakes.”

The Daily Beast also noted that conservative radio host Jesse Kelly “called Cornyn, who has held his Texas Senate seat since 2002, a ‘swamp rat,’ and said if Trump endorses him, it would be a ‘total scumbag move.'”

Republican former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once a top Trump ally, now an “America First” activist, blasted the president.

“Trump now says he is going to endorse either Cornyn or Paxton and demands that whoever does not get his endorsement must drop out of the runoff. This is wrong and the people of Texas should be able to vote for WHOEVER THEY WANT!!! NOT the candidate Trump demands.”

“People are furious over this and if Trump does this, it could actually be the real reason Texas Senate seat flips blue,” she warned. “Stealing people’s opportunity to elect their leaders by force will definitely piss off voters and will lead to even more sitting it out.”