Senator John Cornyn of Texas endorsed former President Donald Trump after he was declared the projected winner of the New Hampshire primary.
Cornyn has, at times, been at odds with the Republican front-runner – who secured just over 54% of the vote to former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley’s roughly 43%.
“I have seen enough,” he wrote in a post on X just after 8:00 p.m. on Jan. 23. “To beat Biden, Republicans need to unite around a single candidate, and it’s clear that President Trump is Republican voters’ choice.”
“Four more years of failed domestic policies like the Biden Border Crisis and record-high inflation, and failed foreign policies that have emboldened our adversaries and made the world a more dangerous place, must be stopped,” Cornyn continued.
He summarized a list of accomplishments from Trump's first term, including “the confirmation of 234 federal judges, including three members of the United States Supreme Court; passing historic tax reform, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; unleashing our energy potential; and ushering in the best economy for all Americans in my lifetime.”
The four-term senator vowed “to work to elect a Republican Senate majority and to elect President Trump in 2024.”
Cornyn served as the Senate Majority Whip from 2013 to 2019. Prior to his tenure in the United States Senate, he was the Texas Attorney General from 1999 to 2002 and a member of the state’s Supreme Court from 1990 to 1997.
The Republican previously expressed skepticism about Trump’s odds of securing a second term in the White House.
“I think President Trump’s time has passed him by," Cornyn said in May while speaking with reporters on a conference call, per the Caller Times. “And I think what's the most important thing for me is that we have a candidate who can actually win.”
"I don’t think President Trump understands that when you run in a general election, you have to appeal to voters beyond your base,” he continued. “There's no question that President Trump has some enthusiastic supporters as part of his base… That works well for him in a Republican primary, but not well when you need to expand your appeal in a general election."
In July, Trump criticized Cornyn as well as Utah Senator Mitt Romney in a post on Truth Social.
“Who is a worse Senator, John ‘The Stiff’ Cornyn of Texas, or Mitt ‘The Loser’ Romney of Massachusetts (Utah?)?” Trump wrote, per The Hill. “They are both weak, ineffective, and very bad for the Republican Party, and our Nation. With even modestly skilled opposition, they’ll lose their next Election.”
“Who could ever forget Mitt proudly marching, with full mask, down a once proud Washington, D.C. street with BLM and Rioters? Likewise there’s Cornyn, always quick to surrender to the Dems, giving them anything they want?” he added.
Cornyn’s change of heart did not go unnoticed. After his endorsement, POLITICO published an article titled “Cornyn Falls in Line.”
