TOI correspondent from Washington: For Republican politicians in Donald Trump’s America, there are now only two career paths: obedience or obituary.On Tuesday night in Texas, the political undertaker came for Senator John Cornyn — a four-term Republican heavyweight, former Senate whip, longtime conservative stalwart, and co-chair of the Senate India Caucus — who was steamrolled in the GOP primary (inner party election) by Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cornyn’s chief crime was not ideological impurity. On policy, he was plenty conservative, and voted, as he pointed out, 99 per cent for Trump priorities. But in today’s Republican Party, conservatism without total submission to Trump is as relevant as a rotary telephone.The Texas massacre came barely a week after Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy — one of the Republicans who voted to convict Trump after January 6 — was politically strangled by another Trump-endorsed challenger in Louisiana. The message to Republicans nationwide is now so clear it could be printed on MAGA merchandise: cross Trump and prepare for retirement.Trump’s grip over the Republican base remains so absolute that senators, governors, congressmen, cabinet members and even judges now behave like medieval courtiers nervously checking the king’s mood before speaking. Washington Republicans once worried about alienating suburban moderates or independent voters. Today they worry about a 2 am Truth Social post calling them “weak,” “disloyal,” or, worst of all, “RINO scum.”Ask Liz Cheney, once Republican royalty as the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. After opposing Trump and joining the January 6 committee, she was politically vaporized in 2022. Or Jeff Flake, who fled the Senate rather than face a MAGA firing squad. Or Adam Kinzinger, who became so radioactive inside the GOP that retirement seemed healthier than remaining in Congress. Even those who once criticized Trump now speak about him with the forced enthusiasm of hostages reading prepared statements.The modern Republican survival kit therefore contains three essentials: a red tie, a border-security soundbite, muscular support for war or peace depending on mood, and lips permanently attached to Trump’s backside.
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Cornyn learned this too late. Despite months of carefully repositioning himself as a loyal Trump ally, the senator could not escape his establishment image. Record spending ($90 million) in the most expensive primary in U.S history ($120 million) did not help either against a vengeful President.Paxton, meanwhile, offered Republican voters what they crave: perpetual outrage, culture-war aggression, and devotion to Trumpian grievance politics. Legal scandals, impeachment drama, fraud allegations, and ethical clouds hovering over Paxton mattered little. In the MAGA era, indictments often function as resume enhancements.The result was not merely a primary defeat. It was another political execution staged as a warning to others.All this is unfolding even as Trump’s national approval ratings continue to sag amid voter unease over inflation, immigration chaos, tariff wars, and nonstop political combat. Yet inside Republican primaries, none of that seems to matter. Trump remains less a politician than a tribal identity marker. To oppose him is to risk excommunication. Which explains the increasingly bizarre split-screen nature of American politics.Nationally, Republicans privately fret that Trump’s poor poll numbers may drag down candidates in November. Publicly, however, they compete to praise his golf swing, his stamina, his Truth Social posts, and even his disastrous war on Iran. At the same time, Trump allies across several states are aggressively pursuing fresh gerrymandering efforts to redraw congressional maps before the midterms — an attempt critics say is designed to conjure electoral wins even as broader support weakens.The party’s operating philosophy can now be summarized in a single sentence: Thou shalt have no other god before Donald Trump. And if you do, there is always a primary waiting around the corner.
