Daily Caller columnist Mary Rooke ripped Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn as a Senate leader option and said state voters won’t back the lawmaker.
Rooke appeared Monday on podcast host Kenny Webster’s show “Pursuit of Happiness” to discuss the possible push for Cornyn to replace Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Webster began asking Rooke her thoughts after hearing Republicans could back Cornyn as a viable replacement for McConnell. (RELATED: DC Loves Cornyn’s Bid To Replace McConnell. Texans? Not So Much)
“Are they serious? You cannot be in Texas and be here for as long as I have and believe that John Cornyn should have that seat,” Rooke stated. “It’s not just me. Voters are waking up all over the state and going, ‘Wait, no, no, no – stop, stop, stop, stop right there. You cannot put John Cornyn in that seat.’ He’s done absolutely nothing for real Republicans here in Texas. If anything, he’s pushed the establishment line through and through. Every vote that you look at and you think to yourself, ‘Surely, I’m not going to see one of my Texas senators’ names on this list,’ John Cornyn is almost certainly always there.”
“Especially with that illegal immigration bill that they tried to pass through,” she continued. “They actually hung it on that Oklahoma Senator Lankford’s head, but Cornyn was just right there with him – and Mitch McConnell supporting it all the way until they realized ‘oh man, this is not good for business. Voters are going to have too big of a backlash for this one.’”
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Rooke stated that in a recent report, she and Daily Caller’s Capitol Hill reporter Zack Brave questioned local elected officials, GOP candidates for elected office and high-profile political leaders about Cornyn. While some agreed that Cornyn would be a good replacement, others, especially from Texas, have strongly pushed back against the idea.
“The reality is that John Cornyn is that establishment Republican that we’ve been fighting back against since 2015 – since we woke up and realized there was a uniparty there in Washington [D.C.] and the voters don’t want him in,” Rooke said. “He’s not popular here in Texas. So he may sit there in that Senate majority seat for a little bit, but it’s not going to save him from the voters here.”
Webster asked Rooke about Cornyn’s “voting record” and whether she wished Cornyn “loved protecting” Texas’ border as much as his support for Ukraine’s border. Webster additionally brought up Texas’ upcoming Republican Party Convention, reminiscing on how Cornyn was booed for 14 minutes at the 2023 Texas GOP State Convention after he supported a gun control bill.
“I wish that hadn’t become a cliche at this point because it’s like what’s the difference between him and Joe Biden? Absolutely nothing when it comes to Ukraine and our border. They would much rather see it be open and have [it] enrich their corrupt D.C. class with as many illegal voters as possible that can come in while the voters here get damaged for their jobs, their wages and everything else in between. It’s just a really disappointing reality whenever you look at Cornyn’s voting record,” Rooke stated.
“Like you said at that Republican National Convention – that was like 14 minutes straight of booing,” she went on. “He had to stand there and try to take it and try to speak. Eventually, he just gave up and walked off stage. It was a true testament to how Texas feels about him. He better wake up because 2026 is not going to be easy.”
Following McConnell’s announcement in February that he would be stepping down as the party’s leader in November, Cornyn vocalized his intention to run for the position. The Texas senator has reportedly begun to call on support from his fellow lawmakers and has already spoken with former President Donald Trump.