Cornyn says Trump 'not ready' to endorse despite appeals

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said President Trump has told him he is not ready to endorse in his contentious GOP Senate primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R).

“I’ve talked to him about it a number of times. He is not ready to make that endorsement,” Cornyn told NBC News on Tuesday.

“I think as we start advertising and closing the gap in the polls, hopefully he’ll see fit to make that endorsement, but we can’t wait,” he continued. “I pointed out to him, and he knows this, that if he endorsed me, the race would be over.” 

Cornyn and Paxton are both Trump allies, but the president has held off on formally endorsing in the race. 

Numerous polls show Cornyn trailing Paxton in the primary. A poll released in May by Texas Southern University showed Paxton leading Cornyn 43 percent to 34 percent, with 23 percent saying they were undecided. An internal poll also released in May by the Senate Leadership Fund, which is supporting Cornyn, showed Paxton trailing Cornyn by 16 points.

While Cornyn and his allies are hopeful that a Trump endorsement would boost him, polls show otherwise. An internal poll obtained by The Hill and conducted by the firm Eyes Over showed Cornyn trailing Paxton 44 percent to 38 percent after Republican primary voters were informed of a scenario in which Trump backed Cornyn, compared to 50 percent to 33 percent before they were told.

Another poll obtained by The Hill, which was conducted on behalf of the Conservative Policy Project, showed Cornyn only gaining 1 point with Trump’s endorsement against Paxton and trailing 46 percent to 34 percent. The same poll showed Paxton trailing a generic Democratic candidate by 3 points.

However, Cornyn allies worry Paxton as a Senate nominee would open the door to Democrats at having a chance to win statewide in the Lone Star State. 

The same Texas Southern University poll showed Cornyn leading Democratic Senate candidate and former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) by 4 points and Paxton leading Allred by 2 points.