'The right thing': Paxton, Cornyn trade blows in Texas primary but unite for Trump's Iran strikes
WACO, TEXAS — Two of this primary season’s fiercest rivals have one thing in common: unflinching support for President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, are both leaning into their relationship with Trump and their record of support over the years as they vie for the Republican nomination in Texas’ contentious Senate primary. While it's a crowded primary, including Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, all eyes are on Paxton and Cornyn.
And as they push for Trump’s coveted endorsement in the final stretch of their intense campaign, their support of the president has remained unwavering.
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Paxton told Fox News Digital outside his final campaign event ahead of the March 3 primary that he believed Trump "did the right thing" with Operation Epic Fury. When asked what voters were saying, he said, "No one wants foreign wars."
"But the reality is, when you've got a country that's trying to build nuclear weapons, that is willing to use them, and that has demonstrated terrorist activity for decades, 40 or 50 years you’ve got to deal with that, or eventually it comes to you," Paxton said.
Cornyn had a front-row view of Trump’s decision.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan "Raizin" Caine said Tuesday during a press conference at the Pentagon that Trump gave the go-ahead to launch Operation Epic Fury while en route to Corpus Christi, Texas, to promote his energy agenda.
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Cornyn and others from the Texas delegation were on Air Force One when Trump gave the order. When asked by Fox News Digital whether he was aware of the plan while traveling with the president, Cornyn said Trump was "a very cool customer."
"He asked us whether we supported a strike on Iran," Cornyn recalled. "The members of Congress who were there in the cabin of Air Force One all raised our hands and said we did support that, recognizing the gravity of the decision and that only the president, as commander in chief, could make it."
In Washington, D.C., lawmakers are grappling with the decision, with members of both parties calling for a vote to limit Trump’s war powers in the region. Both Paxton and Cornyn said they are open to debate on the matter.
Cornyn argued it comes down to a simple choice.
"I want to know who's standing on the side of American peace and security, and who's standing on the side of a nuclear-armed Iran," Cornyn said. "I think that's the choice."
How long the country remains involved in the operation remains an open question. Trump said in a video address that the U.S. would continue operations "until all of our objectives are achieved," but later suggested it could take "four weeks or less."
Some Senate Democrats, including Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., argued the strike was "the same dangerous and foolish decision" former President George W. Bush, a fellow Texan, made more than two decades ago in the Middle East.
"I think the president is doing his best to get in and out. Bush was into nation-building, a very different approach to things. I do not think that's Trump's idea here or his endeavor," Paxton said. "I'm very confident that he's going to do whatever he can to take them out, and he's encouraging the people in Iran to take their country back."
"He's not encouraging us to move in and help them do that," Paxton added. "We're just taking out the bad guys, and then it's up to them to build their country in a way that they see fit."