Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas — who is up for re-election next year and facing a primary challenge from Lone Star State Attorney General Ken Paxton — told NBC News that he has spoken to President Donald Trump about a potential endorsement.
“I’ve talked to him about it a number of times. He is not ready to make that endorsement,” Cornyn told the outlet. “I think as we start advertising and closing the gap in the polls, hopefully he’ll see fit to make that endorsement, but we can’t wait.”
“I pointed out to him, and he knows this, that if he endorsed me, the race would be over,” the senator noted, according to the outlet.
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Cornyn has spent more than two decades in the Senate — prior to taking office in late 2002, he served as Texas attorney general, the post that Paxton currently occupies.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak said that “President Trump’s endorsement is the most powerful endorsement in the modern history of the Republican Party.”
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“Senator Cornyn and President Trump are good friends and close allies and Senator Cornyn is proud to have voted with President Trump 99.2% of the time while he has been in office. We respect that the President will take his time to make a decision and in the meantime we are focused on running a first rate, winning campaign, as Senator Cornyn always has.”
Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House and to Paxton’s campaign for comment.
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Paxton’s wife, Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, a Republican, declared in social media posts last week that “after 38 years of marriage” she “filed for divorce on biblical grounds.”
