Trump Touts Perfect Endorsement Record After More Election Wins

Fox News host Bill Hemmer highlighted the political weight of President Donald Trump’s endorsement Tuesday night after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary.

During a segment on Sean Hannity’s program, Hemmer said Paxton’s victory underscored what has become one of the clearest forces in Republican politics: Trump’s continued dominance in GOP primaries.

“I started the report talking about what is happening with endorsements. The president has gotten involved in many races,” Hemmer began.

“Talking about governor races, how races. This is his scorecard. He’s endorsed eight governors. Some of these races weren’t close. Some of them had competition. We saw what happened in Louisiana. We saw what happened with Thomas Massie in Kentucky,” Hemmer added.

“Now we’re seeing it again tonight in Texas. At the governor level, Trump endorsed eight. He won eight times. He won 101 after endorsing 101 in the House,” he said.

Hemmer then turned to the Senate side, pointing to Trump’s nearly unmatched record when he puts his political capital behind a candidate.

“U.S. Senate, those endorsed eight can digits. Prior to tonight, he had won eight times. Now you can take the endorsement meant from 8 to 9 endorsed and from 8 to 9 winner. Ken Paxton was outspent 9 to 1. Got the endorsement from Trump. Now we’ve got the setup in Talarico. Many Republicans fell,” Hemmer declared.

The result was especially striking because Cornyn entered the race with major financial advantages and long-standing institutional support. But Paxton, backed by President Trump, overcame a massive spending gap and turned the race into a decisive win.

Hemmer said the November matchup between Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico could become one of the most expensive Senate races in American history.

“Here’s what will happen in November. In Texas, probably the most expensive Senate race that we have seen ever. We were looking at some of the numbers from — I guess it was Georgia in 2020. David Purdue is up against Jon Ossoff,” Hemmer said.

“All the money combined, with all the outside groups, spends about $500 million. This primary alone between Cornyn and Paxton, they spent over $100 million. Paxton 9 to 1. Cornyn spent 9 to 1. More than $90 million compared to Paxton’s 10,” he declared.

Hemmer concluded by noting the scale of Paxton’s lead and the surprise it delivered to much of the political class.

“With Talarico and Paxton, you could be looking at the most expensive primary ever. It would surpass what we saw in Georgia in 2020. 49% for Ken Paxton. He’s up 25 points on John Cornyn. I don’t know a lot of people who had good money on that result, but that’s what we’re seeing right now in Texas.”

Paxton will now face Talarico in November in what is likely to become one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country. Republicans are fighting to protect their narrow 53-47 Senate majority, and Texas will now sit near the center of that national battle.

Talarico secured the Democratic nomination after defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett, one of President Trump’s loudest critics in Congress, during the March primary.

But while Talarico’s left-wing rhetoric may have helped him with progressive voters, Republicans believe it will become a major liability in a statewide Texas general election.

GOP groups have already begun resurfacing Talarico’s past speeches, social media posts, and public comments, portraying him as far outside the mainstream of Texas voters.

Talarico has made statements such as “poverty is violence,” claimed the Bible supports abortion, suggested there are six biological sexes, and embraced other positions Republicans are expected to use heavily against him.

In another previous speech, Talarico said “people don’t belong in cages” and appeared to compare prisons to “domestic abuse.”

The Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have already seized on those comments, betting that Talarico’s progressive record will not sit well with voters in a historically conservative state.

The NRSC launched a deepfake-style attack ad portraying Talarico as reading his own prior “extreme statements praising transgenderism, twisting Christian beliefs, and advocating for open borders.”

One of the central lines of attack against Talarico is his use of religious language to promote left-wing social policies.

“In my faith, God is non-binary,” Talarico said in a 2021 speech criticizing a Republican-backed bill requiring K-12 athletes to compete according to their biological sex.

Earlier that same year, Talarico suggested that biological sex is not limited to male and female.

For Republicans, the contrast heading into November is becoming clear. Paxton enters the general election with President Trump’s endorsement, a proven conservative record, and momentum from a stunning primary victory. Talarico enters with a progressive paper trail that Republicans believe will be difficult to defend before Texas voters.

If Tuesday night proved anything, it is that President Trump’s endorsement remains one of the most powerful weapons in Republican politics. Paxton was outspent, underestimated, and written off by much of the establishment. But with Trump behind him, he walked away with a landslide and turned Texas into the next major Senate battleground.