Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) seems to have gotten a little bitter ever since President Donald Trump endorsed his primary opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who later defeated him to become the GOP Senate nominee.
Cornyn, a four-term senator who was seeking a fifth term, lost to Paxton by a large margin. This happened after Trump backed Paxton days before the primary race, saying Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”
Since then, the senator has made several posts on social media and taken steps that contrast with his prior support for the president’s agenda.
Just three days after his primary loss, Cornyn wrote a cryptic post on X telling the fable of the scorpion and the frog.
An old, but apt fable:
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 29, 2026
A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of…
Many other users interpreted this post as a thinly veiled jab at President Trump. Cornyn appeared to suggest that the president had betrayed him in his time of need.
On Wednesday, Cornyn wrote another post arguing that Congress should “put a stake through” what he called the “Trump retribution fund” to make sure it stays dead. This was a reference to Trump’s controversial Anti-Weaponization Fund, which was established to compensate those who became targets of lawfare.
The way to ensure the Trump retribution fund is more than mostly dead would be for Congress to put a stake through it. https://t.co/tOAAZPF9TF via @WSJopinion
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 3, 2026
In the same week, he reversed his position on a bill he introduced in May to designate a long stretch of Texas highway as the “Trump Interstate” to honor the president. Cornyn is now dropping the idea after his defeat.
Senator Cornyn just made a surprising about-face on a high-profile plan to honor President Trump.
— 1080 KRLD (@KRLD) June 4, 2026
After pushing hard for a major Texas highway to be renamed the Trump Interstate, the senator is now dropping the idea.
What do you make of the timing? Drop your thoughts below.…
Cornyn also told Punchbowl News reporter Laura Weiss that he has not yet decided whether he would support Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom Trump recently nominated to permanently hold the position.
“The problem with the office of Attorney General is that there's basically, well, you are a member of the president's cabinet,” the senator said. “But you're also the chief law enforcement officer for the country. And you're not the president's lawyer. So I'll be asking some questions about getting commitments on that.”
Sen. CORNYN, a Judiciary member, tells me he’s not deciding either way yet on whether he’ll back Todd Blanche for AG
— Laura Weiss (@LauraEWeiss16) June 4, 2026
“The problem with the office of Attorney General is that there's basically, well, you are a member of the president's cabinet. But you're also the chief law…
This is coming from someone who once touted the fact that he voted with Trump’s agenda 99 percent of the time. But now that Trump has rejected him, it appears Cornyn is seeking any type of petty revenge he can get.
In the end, it will all amount to nothing. After this election, Cornyn will no longer be a senator, and someone else will be occupying his seat in the upper chamber.