Republican says Trump’s support for Ken Paxton in Texas primary was a ‘colossal mistake’ | Republicans

US Senator Thom Tillis criticized fellow Republican Donald Trump on Sunday for the president’s support of Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate Republican primary.

“He made a colossal mistake,” Tillis, a frequent Trump critic in North Carolina, said during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, referring to the president’s support for Paxton who defeated Cornyn in the May primary.

“John Cornyn is an important member of the United States Senate. Paxton has his challenges,” added Tillis, who is retiring. “We wouldn’t be spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas if Cornyn had won.”

Tillis highlighted the president’s involvement in the contest and described Trump’s decision to support Paxton instead of Cornyn as an “unforced error” that put the Senate seat at risk for the Republican Party.

Trump endorsed Paxton just days before the Texas attorney general defeated Cornyn, a four-term senator, to face Democratic candidate James Talarico in the Nov. 3 general election.

That race had broad implications for Trump’s strength heading into November’s federal midterm elections. Paxton will now face Talarico, a Democratic pastor and state lawmaker whose message of peace and populism has attracted much attention. If he wins, Talarico will become the first Democrat in more than 30 years to win statewide office in Texas.

When choosing to support Paxton over Cornyn, Trump highlighted the Texas attorney general’s record as a staunch supporter of the president’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement.

Cornyn previously said during the 2024 presidential campaign that Republicans should abandon Trump.

In a social media post shortly before Election Day, Trump said Cornyn had been “VERY disloyal” to him and implored Texas voters to “REMEMBER!” »

Paxton, meanwhile, is struggling to overcome a series of political scandals. He was impeached in 2023 after being accused of corruption and then acquitted in a trial before the Texas Senate. He was also charged with securities fraud, but the case was dismissed after a pretrial diversion agreement in 2024.

In July 2025, his wife of 38 years, Angela Paxton, filed for divorce “on biblical grounds,” citing adultery.

Tillis is one of the few Republicans who has repeatedly broken with Trump and publicly criticized the president’s decisions. In April, he came out in favor of the NATO military alliance after Trump said he was “absolutely” considering pulling the United States out of it.

“Any president who considers attempting to withdraw from NATO is not only fulfilling the greatest dreams of (Russian leader) Vladimir Putin and (Chinese Prime Minister) Xi Jinping, but would also harm America’s national security interests,” Tillis said at the time.

He also called for the resignation of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January, calling her leadership a “disaster” during the final Senate hearing before his dismissal.

Tillis was one of the few Republicans to vote Thursday in favor of a Democratic-led war powers resolution aimed at ending the U.S.-Iran war. Despite some Republican support, the proposal failed to pass the Senate by a vote of 49-50.