U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis sharply criticized President Donald Trump on Sunday, September 27, 2026, over his decision to back Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton instead of incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s Republican primary. Tillis warned that the presidential endorsement has put the GOP’s control of the crucial Senate seat in jeopardy ahead of the general election on November 3, 2026.
Paxton ultimately defeated Cornyn in the May primary after Trump heavily campaigned against the four-term senator. Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Tillis did not mince words regarding the electoral impact of the contest.
“He made a colossal mistake,” said Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina. “John Cornyn’s a great member of the U.S. Senate. Paxton has his challenges. We would not be spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas if Cornyn had won.”
Tillis described the president’s move as an unforced error. He argued that the current political environment demands a focus on winning elections rather than imposing strict ideological loyalty tests, noting that Cornyn had previously voted with the president the vast majority of the time.
“This party has evolved to a point to where one or two disagreements with the president… folks, now is not a time for these loyalty oaths,” Tillis said during the interview. “They’re unrealistic, they’re unsustainable, and they also cause us to lose elections.”
With Cornyn out of the race, Paxton advanced to face Democratic candidate James Talarico in the upcoming November general election. Recent polling has indicated a tight race in the traditionally solid-red state, drawing massive financial investments from both parties as Republicans fight to maintain their Senate majority.
Tillis, who is retiring at the end of his term, also leveled heavy personal criticism at Paxton, pointing to the Texas attorney general’s history of legal and political scandals. Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 on corruption charges before being acquitted by the state senate, and faced separate felony securities fraud charges that were ultimately dismissed following a 2024 pretrial diversion agreement.
“He is an empty suit and will do us no service by being in the U.S. Congress,” Tillis said.
As the November 3 general election approaches, the unexpected battle for the Texas Senate seat remains one of the most closely watched contests of the midterm cycle, carrying major implications for the balance of power in Washington.
