Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) refused rival Ken Paxton‘s offer to cease running negative ads, with an ominous message attached.
On Thursday, Paxton extended an olive branch to Cornyn after the two spent over a year waging a bitter primary campaign against one another. After securing President Donald Trump‘s endorsement, Paxton sought to end the race on a positive note, boosting a call from the head of the Texas Republican Party to end attack ads against other Republicans.
“We have already changed our TV ad traffic starting today to ensure our campaign ends on a positive note and that we can focus on beating the leftist lunatic in the fall,” Paxton posted on X. “I’m calling on Cornyn to do the same for the good of our party. Let’s keep Texas Red!”
Unfortunately for Paxton, Cornyn wasn’t in a conciliatory mood, responding with a threat.
“We are going to continue to tell the truth about Paxton. He’s escaped accountability for too long. Judgment day is coming,” he posted on X.
Cornyn added in a reposted message from his campaign that Paxton was “desperate to avoid accountability.”
“We need a few more days to burn in the fact that you plea bargained with a child sex offender, offering them only one day in prison and no sex offender registry as a favor to Nate Paul’s lawyer,” the post said.
Cornyn won 42% of the vote to Paxton’s 40.5% in the primary, sending the two to a runoff. After months of being locked in a dead heat, Trump suddenly announced his endorsement of Paxton earlier this week, strengthening the Texas attorney general’s chance to secure the nomination. The president’s endorsement has proven decisive time and again. Cornyn has advertised his voting record backing Trump in his pitch to voters after being spurned.
TRUMP ENDORSES KEN PAXTON AHEAD OF TEXAS SENATE PRIMARY RUNOFF
“I have worked closely with President Trump through both of his Presidential terms and voted with him more than 99% of the time,” Cornyn said. “He has consistently called me a friend in this race. It is now time for Texas Republican voters to decide if they want a strong nominee to help our GOP candidates down ballot and defeat [Democratic nominee James] Talarico in November, or a weak nominee who jeopardizes everything we care about. I trust the Republican voters of Texas.”
Despite his threat of “judgment day,” Cornyn’s comments at a GOTV rally at the Houston Association of Realtors headquarters on Thursday only brought up allegations and criticisms of Paxton that were already publicly known.