Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Sunday would not specifically commit to backing Trump-endorsed Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) if he wins the upcoming Texas Republican Senate runoff election to face Democrat James Talarico in November, though he has said in the past he would support the Republican ticket.

NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt asked Cornyn on “The Hill Sunday” that, based on past comments, Paxton is unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate, but that he will support the nominee, and how Republican voters should reconcile this when going to the polls in November.

“Well, I happen to ask these speculative questions about November, but I expect to be the nominee of the party, so I don’t expect to ever have to deal with that,” the senator said. “Of course, people are seeking divisions among Republicans. We’re having quite a robust family fight here in the primary.”

Cornyn added that the goal is to remain unified in order to defeat Talarico in November, which he said was the “essence of my response.”

“But I think people are asking me about something that’s never going to happen, so that’s the reason I framed it the way I did,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn said not receiving President Trump’s endorsement on Tuesday was different from the losses Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) suffered to Trump-endorsed candidates. All three incumbents have been critical of the president in different ways, with Cornyn having said in 2023 that Trump’s time had “passed him by.”

Cornyn’s criticisms, he said, stem from choosing fights on a case-by-case basis while remaining supportive.

“So, I’ll continue to vote in that same way, but sometimes the president needs a little help when, particularly, we’re dealing with the midterms here, where I think there’s a lot more anxiety than, perhaps, we can fully appreciate about the midterms,” he added. “And this is going to be critical to his last two years in office.”

Paxton has called Cornyn’s loyalty to Trump into question, having criticized the senator’s support for a gun bill in 2022 following the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Trump praised Cornyn as a “good man” in his endorsement of Paxton, but added that the challenger “is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas.”

“John was very late in backing me in what turned out to be a Historic Run for the Republican Nomination, and then, the Presidency, itself,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. “Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to WIN. Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness.”

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.