U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) reportedly won’t be in attendance for President Donald J. Trump’s big midterm pep rally that’s set to be held in the Lone Star State next week.
The president will rally the MAGA troops at the first of its kind Republican National Convention (RNC) midterm convention, an event touted as a “Trumpapalooza” by RNC chairman Joe Gruters.
We are two weeks away from the historic midterm convention!
It’s going to be a Trumpapalooza you’re not gonna want to miss! pic.twitter.com/DyEwrkL14L
— Chairman Joe Gruters (@ChairmanGruters) August 27, 2026
But the state’s senior senator won’t be joining the crowd at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, instead choosing to snub Trump, who endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the GOP primary.
A spokesperson for the senator confirmed to Newsweek that Cornyn is passing on the event, which comes as Republicans are in serious jeopardy of losing the Senate seat to Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who is flush with cash and running rings around Paxton with advertising.
NEW: @Newsweek can confirm that Texas Senator John Cornyn will not be attending the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas
Cornyn notably lost a frought primary to Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s trailing in polling to State Representative James Talarico.
W/ @AndrewStanton:…
— Alex J. Rouhandeh (@AlexRouhandeh) September 3, 2026
A certified RINO, all of Cornyn’s sucking up to Trump, including legislation to rename a highway after him, was for naught, and he apparently is still chapped over the president’s decision to go with Paxton, effectively revoking his ticket on the D.C. gravy train.
The 74-year-old senator has said that he doesn’t plan to use his fundraising clout on behalf of Paxton.
“What I’m doing is I’m raising money to help in places like New Hampshire and Michigan and Alaska, and some of these other states where I think we’ve got close races,” he told the Texas Tribune in a recent interview.
Cornyn also took a shot at the “lazy” Trump-backed GOP Senate hopeful.
“Paxton’s a poor campaigner,” the outgoing senator said. “He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election. He’s making this harder than it needs to be. But so be it — we are where we are.”
Trump has lashed out at Cornyn multiple times, including suggesting that he was holding a grudge for opposition to the proposed “anti-weaponization” fund.
“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called ‘Fund,’ which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate,” Trump said in a July 31 Truth Social post.
“This is unfortunately shaping up to be a close and I hope not disastrous election,” Cornyn said. “But it ain’t looking good right now.”
The president is pumped for the convention, which will take place on September 9-10.
“The midterms, people talk about it. It’s very important, but there’s no convention,” Trump told Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on the latest edition of his podcast. “Why don’t we have a convention? You could call it a midterm convention.”
“It’s going to be very important,” Trump said. “It’s going to be big stuff.”
- John Cornyn expected to snub Texas ‘Trumpalooza’ convention - September 4, 2026
- Missouri Supreme Court blocks new GOP-friendly House map after primary for midterms - September 4, 2026
- Karl Rove sounds the alarm over Texas Senate race, pleads for Trump’s help: ‘Time is running out’ - September 3, 2026
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