GOP pollster exposes the brutal calculus behind Republicans' Trump capitulation

After President Donald Trump fired Kristi Noem as secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Salon's Amanda Marcotte had a scathing response — arguing that Noem "excelled in debasing herself to please her boss" only to get fired in the end. Marcotte pointed out that Noem even altered her physical appearance by embracing "Mar-a-Lago face," but ultimately, none of the extremes she went to were enough for Noem to keep her job.

Never Trump conservative and GOP pollster Sarah Longwell has a similar response to a possible Trump endorsement in Texas' 2026 GOP U.S. Senate primary, which finds incumbent Sen. John Cornyn up against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. While Paxton is a far-right MAGA conspiracy theorist, Cornyn is more of a traditional conservative.

Trump was reportedly planning to endorse Cornyn, who Senate Majority Leader John Thune (D-South Dakota) and conservative Washington Post columnist George Will believe would have a much better shot against the Democratic nominee, James Talarico, in the general election. But according to reporting in Politico Playbook on Friday, March 27, Paxton said he had a "positive meeting" with Trump.

In response to Politico's reporting, conservative Caroline Wren went to X, formerly Twitter, and posted, "Woah. In this mornings Politico Playbook… - Trump’s potential endorsement of Cornyn is dead - Paxton had a 'positive meeting' with Trump on Friday - NRSC and SLF confirm they've abandoned Cornyn in the runoff."

Longwell, meanwhile, pointed to the Texas primary as a classic example of Trump's negative influence on the Republican Party.

The Never Trump conservative tweeted, "No matter how much formerly normal Republicans abandon their principles and debase themselves to appease Trump and the MAGA right, it won’t be enough. They'll always go with the more authentically corrupt MAGA candidate."

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