Trump's shadow looms over Texas race as Hunt accuses Cornyn of betrayal

FIRST ON FOX: The primary battle for Sen. John Cornyn's seat in Texas continues to rage on as newly announced candidate, Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, unleashed on the incumbent in an interview with Fox News Digital, saying the GOP "has left him."

Hunt, who entered the race earlier this month, did not mince words when ripping Cornyn over an alleged anti-President Donald Trump voting record and pointed to a number of Truth Social posts and reposts from Trump from 2023. 

"John Cornyn has spent 35 million dollars over the course of the past few months to still find himself in third place and polling in the low thirties," Hunt told Fox News Digital. "There's still 20% of the electorate that's undecided, which means that there's clearly room for us."

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"I've gotten into this race to give the true conservative Texan an option," Hunt continued. "And that's going to be between me and Ken Paxton, because, unfortunately for John Cornyn, he's not going to make it. This party has left him."

Cornyn punched back at Hunt's claims in a statement to Fox News Digital, calling the congressman a "show horse."

"Senator Cornyn has voted with President Trump 99.3% of the time he's been in the White House," Cornyn campaign senior advisor Matt Mackowiak told Fox News Digital. "Is Wesley Hunt calling President Trump liberal? Wesley Hunt voted for Hillary Clinton in 2008 and didn't vote for Trump in November 2016."

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"He's missed 27% of all House votes THIS YEAR when President Trump needed him with a 2 or 3 seat margin," Mackowiak continued. "While show horses like Wesley Hunt run their mouth, Sen. Cornyn works to effectively represent Texas, deliver conservative victories and advance Trump's agenda."

Hunt blasted Cornyn on the voting record the senator defended, saying the incumbent has not stood with Trump and is lying about his voting history. 

"He has not stood with the president while he is trying to run ads, and he is saying he has voted with President Trump 99% of the time," Hunt told Fox News Digital. "We all know that that's a flat out lie. We also know that his Liberty score is 54%."

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"We also know that he is one of the most liberal senators of all the Senate on the Republican side," Hunt added. "And he has been siding with the uniparty and siding with the RINOs for decades. We already know this. And the best thing about the primary voter here in Texas is that it's a high information voter."

Hunt also pointed to several Truth Social posts that then-former President Donald Trump posted in 2023 describing how "RINO" and "hopeless" John Cornyn joined Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in "trying to cobble together a series of massive concessions for Cryin' Chuck Schumer and the Lunatic Left." 

Trump also hit Cornyn on gun control, saying on June 22, 2022, that "RINO Senator John Cornyn of Texas" will "go down in history as the first step in the movement to TAKE YOUR GUNS AWAY."

Hunt would be the first Black statewide elected official if he were to defeat Cornyn and another primary contender, the sitting state Attorney General Ken Paxton, in the primary. 

When asked what a historic win such as that means for the race, Hunt told Fox News Digital that being the first Black statewide elected official is "not important to me."

"What's most important to me is the fact that I am an American and people are going to vote for me because of the way I view conservatism, the way I view Texas, and they're going to judge me not based on the color of my skin, but by the content of my character," Hunt explained. 

Paxton could not be reached for comment.