ROOKE: GOP Voters Dumped Cornyn. He's Responding Like The World's Most Toxic Ex-Boyfriend
Opinion
ROOKE: GOP Voters Dumped Cornyn. He’s Responding Like The World’s Most Toxic Ex-Boyfriend
OPINION
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Mary Rooke Commentary and Analysis Writer June 23, 2026 4:54 PM ET June 23, 2026 4:54 PM ET Mary Rooke Commentary and Analysis Writer Font Size:The GOP has already seen its fair share of crazy exes trying to claim the party for themselves, but outgoing Texas Sen. John Cornyn is angling for a hall of fame jacket in the category.
Cornyn lost his Senate primary to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the May runoff. President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton shortly before Election Day. That should have been the end of it. Instead, Cornyn has spent the weeks since acting like the classic toxic ex who cannot accept rejection.
In an exclusive interview Monday with Semafor, Cornyn showed he’s handling his breakup with Texas voters poorly. He told the outlet that Trump “revels in chaos,” despite having spent his failed campaign desperately seeking the president’s endorsement. He admitted to withholding support for Paxton in Texas and, using his remaining Senate leverage, acted like a woman scorned, saying he believes he still has “some cards to play.” (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)
Cornyn said he isn’t sure Paxton can win in the general election and has decided he won’t be sending him any money to help keep the must-win Texas Senate seat red against Democratic candidate James Talarico. Instead, he jabs Trump, clearly still bitter about not being endorsed.
“The president picked Paxton, and he’s got $350 million dollars. I think he can spend his money,” Cornyn told Semafor. “I’m going to try to help in other places.”
“I don’t know how Paxton raises the money he’s going to need to run against Talarico — who’s got unlimited resources — in the next four and a half months,” Cornyn said. “And while Talarico is definitely a weirdo, you know, take your pick.”
New – John Cornyn, unplugged and unleashed in interview w Semafor
– – Says Trump “seems to revel in chaos”: Conversations with Trump aren’t “particularly useful because he can and will change his mind depending on the next person he talks to on the phone
– Is hosting a…
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) June 22, 2026
Cornyn is the perfect pathetic example of taking his ball and going home. He’d rather see Paxton run a tight race, giving Democrats hope of flipping the state, than ensuring Texans are protected from a far-left radical. This is textbook toxic-ex conduct. The relationship ended because the voters moved on. Rather than accept the new reality, the rejected party frames every action as principled while pursuing personal payback against his former love. He believes it’s right and just to badmouth and withhold resources if it means the voters suffer for not picking him.
Cornyn saved his sharpest lines for Trump, which isn’t shocking if you know his history with the president. Cornyn was never “pro-Trump” or “MAGA.” He aligns with the old wing of the Republican party, which voters have been working to get out of Congress since Trump rode down those golden escalators in 2015.
“The president seems to revel in chaos, which is so different from any other leader that I’ve ever seen. I don’t know about you, but I like to minimize the chaos in my life,” Cornyn said. “He just seems to revel in it. We’ve seen even recent evidence of it on the DNI.”
“The question is, will [Trump] listen?” Cornyn said.
“Hopefully we can all get on the same page,” Cornyn added. “Right now, we’re not in a great place.”
Would be more effective in talking Trump down if it comes from rank-and-file, not leadership or YOLO caucus
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) June 23, 2026
Cornyn seems primed to help continue holding Trump’s nomination hostage, telling Semafor that Trump is “due a little deference on his Cabinet.” The idea that a voter mandate should dictate nominations is a foreign concept to Cornyn, which is why he’s demanding Trump bend the knee.
There are 51 nominations pending on the Senate’s Executive Calendar, despite Republicans holding the majority. This doesn’t count the two open Cabinet positions (attorney general and Director of National Intelligence) that haven’t made it to the calendar yet.
Cornyn is not alone. He is part of a recognizable pattern among former and outgoing GOP officials who treat Trump’s power as a personal betrayal rather than a voter mandate. Mitt Romney has spent years casting Trump as temperamentally unfit to hold office. Mike Pence broke with Trump over January 6 and has never fully moved on. Retiring North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis has similarly used his remaining power to resist specific voter-backed priorities, framing the resistance as proof of his so-called “principles.”
I think it’s pretty easy to see now why Cornyn lost his primary race. He is simply out of step with the Republican base. https://t.co/IYIk3oqZWv
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) June 23, 2026
What they view as “principled conservatism” voters see as the establishment Republican Party’s response to repeated electoral rejection. When the base chooses America First-aligned candidates in primaries, the old guard’s response is rarely gracious enough to admit that “the voters have spoken.” Instead, it is a steady drip of commentary on chaos and pearl-clutching about how this is a “departure from norms.”
It exposes what voters sensed was true all along: Cornyn, Romney, Pence, Tillis, and others like them view Americans who voted against their version of the GOP as something lesser than them. The establishment believes American voters are too dumb to know what’s good for them. (RELATED: JD Vance’s Stock Goes Up As Iran War Winds Down)
In Cornyn’s case, GOP voters made their choice. But he is either unwilling or unable to accept the reality that the voters are just not that into him.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
