Republican senator Tillis calls Trump's backing of Paxton in Texas primary a 'colossal mistake'
US senator Thom Tillis publicly criticized President Trump for endorsing Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate primary, warning the decision has put the Republican-held seat at risk.
Republican senator Thom Tillis, one of the few in his party willing to openly challenge Donald Trump, said on CNN's State of the Union that the president made a "colossal mistake" by backing Ken Paxton over incumbent John Cornyn in the Texas Senate primary.
Tillis, who represents North Carolina and is not seeking re-election, praised Cornyn as an excellent senator while noting Paxton carries significant baggage. He warned that the party will now need to spend tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars defending the Texas seat, money that would have been unnecessary had Cornyn won.
Trump endorsed Paxton shortly before the May primary, citing his loyalty to the Make America Great Again movement. Cornyn had previously suggested Republicans should move past Trump, prompting the president to call him "very disloyal" on social media ahead of the vote.
Having defeated Cornyn, Paxton will now face Democratic candidate James Talarico in the November 3 general election. Talarico, a pastor and state legislator, has drawn significant attention for a message centered on peace and populism. A win would make him the first Democrat to secure statewide office in Texas in more than three decades.
Paxton's candidacy has been clouded by controversy: he was impeached in 2023 but later acquitted by the Texas Senate, and separate felony securities fraud charges against him were dropped after a pretrial diversion agreement in 2024. In July 2025, his wife of 38 years, Angela Paxton, filed for divorce, citing infidelity.
Tillis has repeatedly broken from party lines, previously criticizing Trump's consideration of withdrawing from NATO and calling for the resignation of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the deaths of two US citizens in a Minneapolis immigration operation. He was also among a small group of Republicans who backed a Democratic-led resolution to end US military involvement against Iran, though it narrowly failed in the Senate.
