Republicans are freaking out —but Trump doesn't care

Donald Trump has once again screwed over Republican leaders in Congress—and possibly himself—even as they bow to him daily, giving him everything he wants.

Backing Texas Attorney general Ken Paxton, who’s faced several criminal investigations and is hated by many Texans, over the incumbent John Cornyn (also not well-liked but not with the baggage Paxton has in a general election) in next week’s runoff election was a slap in the face to the GOP Senate leadership, which includes Cornyn himself. And if Trump pushes Paxton over the top, it’s the much riskier bet going up against the popular, young, dynamic and well-funded Democratic candidate James Talarico, as Democrats think this could be the favorable environment to turn Texas blue, as formidable as task as it is.

But Trump doesn’t care about loyalty or politics. He just wants to wield power, helping thugs like Paxton who, like him, have been indicted and impeached and hypocritically engaged in marital infidelity but are still atop the GOP’s corrupt heap.

In just the last few days, there’s been little heard out of the GOP leadership in Congress as Trump is planning to engage in an unprecedented heist, setting up a “compensation fund” of $1.8 billion—taxpayer dollars billed as a “settlement” for Trump dropping his bogus lawsuit against the IRS—so that he’ll have a slush fund for January 6th insurrectionists he pardoned and all of his buddies who committed crimes.

And the Senate leadership has been ready to give Trump a billion dollars for his ballroom, again taxpayer dollars, even as he said it would all be paid for by private donors. As the project got snagged by the Senate parliamentarian ruling that it can’t pass under budget reconciliation (and thus with only 51 votes), a lot of cowardly Republicans quietly breathed a sigh of relief, even as Trump demanded Senate Majority Leader John Thune fire the parliamentarian and as some Republicans scraped around, looking for ways to make changes to include the money.

But Trump couldn’t care less even if they pull it off. Trump is on a high after he took out Indiana GOP legislators who wouldn’t redistrict the state’s congressional maps, backing their MAGA challengers in the primary who defeated most of them. And then, on Saturday, Trump successfully took down Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted to impeach Trump, as the Trump-backed candidate won the primary. Trump then set sights on Thomas Massie, facing a tough primary on Tuesday with millions of dollars from MAGA billionaires backing his opponent.

It’s kind of like the Venezuela invasion, which Trump held up as a massive success after installing a puppet regime that is still repressing people while giving over oil to Trump. He was on a high and then thought he could conquer Iran, only to dig himself into a ditch. The same dynamics are in play.

Trump had reportedly earlier been planning to back Cornyn. He knew what was the best thing for the GOP—and himself, if he didn’t want investigations should Republicans lose the Senate—and likely was talked into it even though Paxton was his thuggish kindred spirit.

But then it was leaked to the media. And Paxton came out saying he’d drop out of the race if the Senate passed the Save Act, the voter suppression bill requiring a birth certificate to vote. And he urged Thune to get it passed by killing the filibuster, something Trump has long demanded of Thune. This was seen by Trump as a powerful moment—and by White House aides as a “genius” move on Paxton’s part—and it got Trump moving over to endorsing Paxton.

It’s always like that with Trump. Even when he knows something’s bad—and has enough people around him showing him the proof—he goes with his “gut” in the end, which is really just his narcissism talking. And more often than not, he screws himself.

Talarico, make no mistake, has an uphill battle in a red state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since the 1980s. But the polls have shown him competitive against either Paxton or Cornyn, but better against Paxton. And he has higher favorability ratings too.

Reporters covering Capitol Hill said Republican leaders were freaked out after Trump’s endorsement of Paxton. Andrew Desiderio from Punchbowl News wrote on X that Senator Susan Collins is concerned: she “doesn’t understand,” he wrote, how Trump could back Paxton, who she said is “ethically challenged.” (Hahaha!) Thune apparently just threw his hand up in the air. Senator Lisa Murkowski said Texas is “all but lost.”

All of this is delicious to see, as Republicans have spent millions of dollars trying to help Cornyn through this runoff next Tuesday. But of course, there’s always the chance Paxton loses—polls have him and Cornyn tied—and Trump is deflated as his endorsement fizzles. There’s also, of course, the very real possibility that Paxton prevails over Talerico, and then we have another scandal-plagued, sleazy GOP senator.

But for Democrats, a scenario in which Trump is doing things that could undermine the GOP is the best scenario to have. And it is yet more proof of how Trump’s own megalomania drives him, even when it’s clear it might not end well for him.