A viral video clip circulating on X claims that Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a progressive Democrat representing most of Dallas, “endorsed” Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s reelection campaign.
The clip, taken from Crockett’s recent interview with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi, was first shared by Lone Star Liberty, a super PAC supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s primary challenge against Cornyn. It was later retweeted by conservative personality Alexander Muse, who added that Crockett “has endorsed” Cornyn in the Senate primary. But Crockett does not offer an endorsement of Cornyn at any point in the interview with Velshi, which dealt primarily with the ongoing battle over redistricting in the Texas state legislature.
“I actually don’t hate Senator Cornyn at all. And right now, what we have is a senator who actually is a real Republican who’s doing everything that he can to make it seem like he’s a MAGA Republican, so that he can get through his primary,” Crockett said. “This is somebody that typically works in a very bipartisan way, unlike Senator [Ted] Cruz.”
Cornyn and Paxton are locked in a battle for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat Cornyn has held since 2002, with Cornyn trailing by double digits in most polls despite having outraised Paxton by over $1 million in the first three months of the matchup. Paxton reportedly met with President Donald Trump during his visit to Scotland in late July, but Trump has yet to endorse a candidate.
“The Paxton campaign is trying to distract from the embarrassing headlines surrounding Ken Paxton being AWOL on a two week European vacation and not helping lead his office to end the quorum break,” Matt Mackowiak, senior adviser to Cornyn’s reelection campaign, told The Dispatch Fact Check.
Mackowiak speculated that Crockett’s remarks, while not an endorsement, instead indicate her own ambition to run against Paxton in a general election.
“Jasmine Crockett wants to run against scandal-plagued Ken Paxton for US Senate which is why several Democratic candidates are salivating at the prospect of Paxton as the nominee,” Mackowiak said via email. In 2023, the Texas House impeached him on corruption and bribery charges, but the Senate acquitted him. He also faced felony security fraud charges in a case that spanned more than eight years, but the charges were dropped in 2024 in exchange for community service.
“None of these Democrats want to run against John Cornyn who is 19-0 in elections in his career,” Mackowiak continued.
Crockett has not announced a bid for Cornyn’s seat. Crockett’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Dispatch Fact Check.
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