If everything is bigger in Texas, President Donald Trump\u2019s decision Friday to not endorse two high-profile Republicans on Friday ahead of Tuesday\u2019s Senate primary vote amounted to a Lone Star-sized cliffhanger as the midterm elections heat up.<\/p>\n
On one hand, the campaigner-in-chief opted against endorsing the more conservative candidate \u2014 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton \u2014 amid warnings that a general election loss of a red seat could follow. But on the other, Trump also chose against endorsing Sen. John Cornyn, one of the chamber\u2019s remaining deal-makers and winner of a number of statewide races. Earlier in his career, Cornyn also won races for a Texas Supreme Court seat and for state attorney general.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPretty much, yeah,\u201d Trump replied when asked by a reporter at the Port of Corpus Christi if he had decided who he would endorse.<\/p>\n
But when the same journalist asked if he would reveal that on Friday, the president said, \u201cNo. Not yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump name-checked both candidates while on stage, continuing his coyness by saying \u201chi\u201d to both and calling them \u201cgreat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re in a little race together,\u201d he said of Cornyn and Paxton. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be an interesting one, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump had a third option, Rep. Wesley Hunt \u2014 but he trails<\/a> Paxton and Cornyn in a recent University of Texas poll that puts the incumbent down 2 percentage points. Paxton leads that survey with 36 percent, with Cornyn next at 34 percent and Hunt at 26 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, Hunt\u2019s entry into the race all but assured a May 26 runoff, likely between Paxton and Cornyn. That makes it likely that the president is waiting for that one-on-one showdown to publicly embrace Paxton or Cornyn.<\/p>\n Trump did not endorse in the Senate race, but he did return to floating a try at a third term, asking the audience what they thought about the idea and contending he would, somehow, be \u201centitled to it\u201d because Democrats \u201ccheated like hell\u201d in 2020. (No Democratic official has been charged with any wrongdoing.)<\/p>\n Trump also name-checked, as part of a laundry list of Republican lawmakers present, Rep. Tony Gonzales, who is embroiled in a scandal after reports that he\u2019d had an affair with an aide who later died by suicide.<\/p>\n Trump also boasted about the oil tanker Searuby that was anchored in the waters behind him, a ship used to bring Venezuelan crude to the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep something for ourselves. We\u2019re going to give some to them, and they\u2019re going to make more money than they\u2019ve ever made before,\u201d Trump said, claiming the vessel had 360,000 barrels onboard.<\/p>\n But while his event was billed as an \u201cenergy event,\u201d many wondered if it would give Trump a forum to offer an endorsement in the Senate primary.<\/p>\n Cornyn traveled to Texas with the president on Air Force One.<\/p>\n Senate GOP leadership and the fundraising arms have made several requests to Trump for a Cornyn endorsement, according to several people familiar with the outreach.\u00a0<\/p>\n The president has been asked about a possible endorsement several times in recent months. Each time, he sidestepped the queries, a few times praising each Republican candidate in the hotly contested primary battle.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve all supported me. They\u2019re all good, and you\u2019re supposed to pick one, so we\u2019ll see what happens. But I support all three,\u201d Trump said last week<\/a> of Paxton, Cornyn and Hunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the Democratic side, Rep. Jasmine Crockett got a boost on Friday when former Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed her in that party\u2019s primary against state Rep. James Talarico.<\/p>\n With Tuesday\u2019s primary fast approaching, and Cornyn the clear favorite of the party\u2019s establishment, some GOP officials have fretted<\/a> about possibly flooding the Lone Star State on Cornyn\u2019s behalf with cash that otherwise could be used in other districts and states.<\/p>\n The longtime senator knows a thing or two about raising campaign cash \u2014 he is a former head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. What\u2019s more, Cornyn\u2019s relationships built in that role and his stint as Senate GOP whip means he has support from many current and former senators, as well as party bigwigs.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m supporting and have endorsed and am doing everything I can to help Sen. John Cornyn,\u201d Thune said earlier this month. \u201cHe\u2019s a very effective conservative senator for the state of Texas, and does a lot of good things for our country on so many issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump ostensibly was in Texas to speak about his administration\u2019s efforts to\u00a0drive down energy costs and put more money in Americans\u2019 pockets. \u201cIt\u2019s happening,\u201d he said of gasoline prices, a claim that some Democratic lawmakers and analysts have questioned with the national average per gallon at $2.98<\/a>, according to American Automobile Association (AAA).<\/p>\n \u201cNo one has worked harder than John Cornyn and President Trump to reinvigorate our economy and lower costs for families, workers, and small businesses. By passing the Working Families Tax Cuts, President Trump and John Cornyn delivered the largest tax cut in American history and ensured that Texans are able to keep more of their hard-earned paychecks,\u201d NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez said in a Friday statement.<\/p>\n Polls show most registered voters have grown deeply frustrated with Trump\u2019s economy and his handling of affordability issues.<\/p>\n But the president mostly has dismissed those concerns, contending Democrats invented a term for a problem they created during Joe Biden\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n \u201cNow the same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters suddenly used the word affordability, a word, they just used it,\u201d Trump said Tuesday night during his State of the Union address, referring to Biden-era policies. \u201cSomebody gave it to them, knowing full well that they caused and created the increased prices that all of our citizens had to endure.\u201d<\/p>\n When some Democrats seated inside the House chamber audibly objected, Trump fired back: \u201cYou caused that problem. You caused that problem.<\/p>\n