Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is coming under fire from fellow conservatives amid a feud with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over his support of a foreign aid package recently passed by the Senate.
Paxton on Tuesday criticized Cornyn for staying “up all night to defend other countries borders, but not America” after the Republican lawmaker joined 21 other senators in his party to vote in favor of a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) indicated he plans to block the House from taking up the Senate bill.
Cornyn hit back at Paxton in a post on X that has highlighted in-fighting within the GOP.
“Ken, your criminal defense lawyers are calling to suggest you spend less time pushing Russian propaganda and more time defending longstanding felony charges against you in Houston, as well as ongoing federal grand jury proceedings in San Antonio that will probably result in further criminal charges,” Cornyn wrote, referencing Paxton’s 2015 indictment on securities fraud charges and the idea that opposing foreign aid to Ukraine means one is being secretly influenced by the Kremlin.
The long-delayed trial has been set for April 15. Paxton has pleaded not guilty. Paxton recently survived an impeachment push in the Texas Congress.
Cornyn’s snarky response quickly caused an uproar among conservatives online—many of whom have been vocally supportive of Paxton’s southern border policies. Paxton, alongside Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), have feuded with the Biden administration over the border, pushing harsh tactics to crack down on the migrant surge.
“You’re a pathetic neocon POS traitor to this country,” wrote Catturd, whose reply has reached more than 6,500 likes in less than two hours since it was posted.
“This tweet is a clear admission that you use the phrase ‘Russian propaganda’ alongside lawfare to silence your political critics,” said and editor at the National Pulse. “I have a four-letter word for people like you. Can you guess what it is?”
One user based in Texas called Cornyn “Judas John,” a biblical reference to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, and said that “every Republican at State Convention booed you!”
“Why don’t you move to Ukraine?” she added. “You work in their best interests over the United States of America; probably makes it easy to be a traitor when your own people can’t stand you.”
Someone else wrote: “This tweet sounds like it was sent directly from the DNC.”
Paxton responded to the post with another dig at Cornyn.
“Unsurprisingly, America Last RINO John Cornyn has once again joined hands with the Biden administration to fund and prioritize foreign wars over the national security crisis at the southern border,” he said.
Paxton suggested last September that he could primary Cornyn, who has held his seat since 2002, once he is up for reelection in 2026.
“To me, he’s been in Washington too long. He’s been there, what, for 14 years or so? And I can’t think of a single thing he’s accomplished for our state or even for the country,” Paxton said in an interview with Tucker Carlson.
“I think it’s time somebody needs to step up and run against this guy that will do the job and do it the right way and represent us and worry about what’s going on,” he added.
