2026年3月6日，美国东部时间上午5点 | 今日美国东部时间上午5点 | 《华盛顿邮报》
总统正准备支持一位他曾称为”党内亲外派”（RINO）的参议员，而非一位曾试图推翻2020年选举结果的坚定盟友，这令其MAGA（让美国再次伟大）基本盘中的许多人感到失望。
得克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿周一在得克萨斯州韦科为其参议院竞选集会造势。（Kaylee Greenlee/路透社）
作者：娜塔莉·艾莉森
唐纳德·特朗普总统正准备在一场备受关注的共和党初选中，支持一位长期担任参议员的现任议员，而非一位忠实盟友——这一决定将使他与部分MAGA基本盘产生分歧，而该群体此前一直支持这位挑战者。
据三位知情人士透露，特朗普已表示打算支持参议员约翰·科恩（John Cornyn），而非其共和党对手肯·帕克斯顿（Ken Paxton）——后者是得克萨斯州总检察长，也是特朗普的长期盟友。所有知情人士均要求匿名讨论其内部考虑。共和党初选将在5月进入决胜轮。特朗普周三在Truth Social平台表示，他计划很快做出支持决定，并宣称未获其支持的候选人应退选。
帕克斯顿表达了反抗态度，周四暗示他将继续参选，但表示如果支持科恩的参议院共和党领袖同意解除阻挠议事规则（filibuster）并通过《SAVE美国法案》（一项将大幅改变美国人投票方式的法案，也是特朗普的核心优先事项之一），他将”考虑”退选。共和党参议员们表示，在5月26日的决胜轮选举前，参议院不太可能采取这一行动，而帕克斯顿的盟友预计他将继续参选。
特朗普即将做出的决定反映了总统的务实考量：科恩作为23年参议院现任议员，曾称特朗普无法赢得2024年选举，被认为是比帕克斯顿更强的大选候选人——后者虽为特朗普忠实盟友，但其法律纠纷和在职期间的弹劾案令部分共和党策略师感到担忧。
关注特朗普的第二届任期
从MAGA核心支持者到鲜为人知的基层活动家，特朗普死忠基本盘中的许多人表示，总统正听从建制派共和党人的呼吁，而非最忠实的支持者，这令支持者感到困惑。一些人警告称，热情减退可能威胁共和党在中期选举中的投票率。
本周，保守派媒体人物和MAGA影响力人士在社交媒体上密集发布内容，强调科恩过去对特朗普的批评，质疑总统对”清除华盛顿沼泽”的承诺，并誓言无论特朗普如何背书，都会支持帕克斯顿。他们还重新传播了特朗普2023年在Truth Social上的一篇帖子，其中将科恩比作前参议员米特·罗姆尼（特朗普批评者），称科恩”总是急于向民主党人投降”。
得克萨斯州保守派电台主持人马克·戴维斯（Mark Davis）与该州支持特朗普的共和党活动家关系密切，他表示：”总统要求人们（即使爱他）改变想法，这是一个巨大的请求。你爱的保守派因为和你爱我的原因相同，我希望你改变主意，不要投票给帕克斯顿。”
“他们中的很多人根本不会这么做。这是不必要的紧张，而这场比赛最终会按其应有的方式进行。”
在讨论这场选举时，总统向身边人指出，两位候选人都有潜在缺点：帕克斯顿背负着与其州参议员妻子离婚的重大负面新闻，原因是其不忠指控；他在2023年因被指控滥用职权以资助房地产投资者而被弹劾，但后来被无罪释放。不过，他曾大力推动特朗普的核心举措，包括试图帮助特朗普推翻2020年选举结果。
一位与特朗普讨论过两位候选人的人士透露，特朗普私下承认科恩可能在11月面临右翼热情不足的问题。尽管如此，他最亲近的顾问——以及最能接触到总统的人——目前已成功引导特朗普支持科恩。
科恩及其盟友（如参议院领袖基金和国家共和党参议员委员会）花费约7000万美元用于广告投放，在周二的初选中获得42%的选票。帕克斯顿在大多数民调中领先，但以41%的得票率位居第二——尽管支持他的广告支出不到500万美元（AdImpact追踪公司数据）。帕克斯顿获得了MAGA友好型组织”转折点美国”（Turning Point USA，由已故保守派活动家查理·柯克创立）的支持。
虽然特朗普在共和党初选中支持的候选人通常获胜，但也有明显例外。在北卡罗来纳州周二初选前，特朗普支持的候选人（现任州参议院领袖）仍以两票之差落后于资金较少的挑战者，后者获得许多保守派活动家支持，胜负未定。
周三特朗普打算支持科恩的消息传开后，MAGA活动家在社交媒体上大量发布标题，称科恩反对特朗普推翻2020年选举结果的努力，或引用科恩2023年对记者的评论称共和党应”向前看，不再纠结于特朗普”。
“这就是基层人士愤怒的原因，”前特朗普高级顾问史蒂夫·班农（Stephen K. Bannon）表示，他支持帕克斯顿。”他们恨科恩，不是因为他是’党内亲外派’（RINO），不是因为他的记录，他们不喜欢这些，但他们恨他是因为他对特朗普不敬。”
自特朗普2024年获得共和党提名以来，科恩——特朗普曾称其为”党内亲外派”（RINO）——努力与总统更紧密地绑定。科恩聘请了特朗普的顶级政治助手，包括特朗普2024年高级顾问克里斯·拉西维塔（Chris LaCivita），来管理其今年的连任竞选。
上月《华盛顿邮报》询问为何尚未像参议院共和党领袖们敦促的那样支持科恩时，特朗普称其”好人”，但表示喜欢”三位”候选人（科恩、帕克斯顿和未进入周二决胜轮的众议员韦斯利·亨特）。
“他们都支持我，都是好人，”特朗普说，”你得选一个，我们拭目以待。”
白宫未回应置评请求。
周四，当被问及帕克斯顿提出的”若解除阻挠议事规则并通过《SAVE美国法案》，将考虑退选”的提议时，科恩告诉《华盛顿邮报》：”我认为他应该和总统讨论这个问题。”
尽管如此，特朗普可能在得克萨斯州偏向MAGA基本盘的风波，不太可能对总统造成长期伤害。最新福克斯新闻民调显示，虽然特朗普支持率近几个月在共和党选民中有所下滑，但自称为MAGA的选民仍对总统评价极高，支持率达98%。
“这更多的是冷漠，而非愤怒，”与MAGA结盟的保守派”国家脉搏”（National Pulse）杂志编辑拉希姆·卡萨姆（Raheem Kassam）表示，指的是对特朗普和科恩感到沮丧的活动家。
与特朗普结盟的《布莱巴特新闻》（Breitbart）华盛顿分社社长马修·博伊尔（Matthew Boyle）批评科恩，指出特朗普曾热情支持南卡罗来纳州参议员林赛·格雷厄姆的连任竞选——尽管格雷厄姆深受MAGA基本盘憎恨。但博伊尔称，特朗普支持者大多”并未因此记恨他”。
得克萨斯州保守派活动家质疑，特朗普的背书这次是否仍能有效。
戴维斯周四对《华盛顿邮报》表示，他多次试图找到倾向于支持帕克斯顿的选民，但在特朗普背书后转向科恩的人，”一个都找不到”。
“所以白宫应该知道，虽然特朗普背书影响力很大，但得克萨斯州数百万特朗普支持者告诉总统：’我们每天感谢上帝有你，总统先生，但在这件事上我们会自己做决定。’”
西奥多里克·迈耶（Theodoric Meyer）对此报道有贡献
In Texas, Trump flirts with defying his own movement
March 6, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. EST Today at 5:00 a.m. EST | The Washington Post
The president is looking to endorse a senator he once called a “RINO” over a staunch ally who worked to try to overturn the 2020 election results, dismaying many in his MAGA base.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during a rally Monday for his senatorial campaign in Waco, Texas. (Kaylee Greenlee/Reuters)
By Natalie Allison
President Donald Trump is preparing to endorse a longtime Senate incumbent over a loyal ally in a closely watched Republican primary — a decision that would put him at odds with parts of the MAGA base that have rallied behind the challenger.
Trump has said he intends to endorse Sen. John Cornyn over his Republican opponent Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general and a longtime ally of Trump, according to three people familiar with his thinking, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The Republican primary race heads to a runoff in May. Trump said Wednesday on Truth Social that he plans to make an endorsement soon and declared that the candidate he doesn’t endorse should drop out.
Paxton has expressed defiance, signaling Thursday that he intends to remain in the race but would “consider” dropping out if the Senate’s Republican leaders — who are backing Cornyn — agree to lift the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would make huge changes to how Americans vote and one of Trump’s top priorities. Republican senators have suggested it’s unlikely the Senate will do so ahead of the May 26 runoff election, and Paxton allies expect he will stay in the race.
Trump’s looming decision reflects a pragmatic calculation by the president that Cornyn, a 23-year Senate incumbent who once said Trump couldn’t win the 2024 election, would be a stronger general-election candidate than Paxton, a loyal Trump ally whose legal troubles and impeachment in office have made some GOP strategists wary.
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From prominent MAGA voices to lesser-known grassroots activists, many in Trump’s die-hard base say they are befuddled that the president is heeding the calls of establishment GOP operatives over his most loyal backers, adding to frustrations among supporters who warn that waning enthusiasm could threaten Republican turnout in the midterms.
Conservative media figures and MAGA influencers have blanketed social media this week with posts highlighting Cornyn’s past criticisms of Trump, questioning the president’s commitment to “drain the swamp” in Washington, and pledging to support Paxton regardless of Trump’s endorsement. They also recirculated a 2023 Truth Social post from Trump in which he compared Cornyn to former senator Mitt Romney, a Trump critic, and said Cornyn was “always quick to surrender to the Dems.”
“It is a massive ask for the president, love him though we may, to come in and say, ‘Hey, that conservative that you love for the same reasons you love me? I want you to change your mind’” and not vote for Paxton, said Mark Davis, a conservative radio host in Texas who is closely attuned with Trump-supporting Republican activists in the state.
“A whole lot of them are simply not going to do it. This is needless tension thrown into a race that’s going to play out the way it plays out.”
In discussing the race, the president has noted to people around him that there are potential downsides to both candidates: Paxton, Trump has acknowledged, carries significant baggage from his highly publicized divorce from his state senator wife, which stemmed from allegations of his infidelity. He was impeached and acquitted in 2023 after lawmakers accused him of misusing his office to benefit a real estate investor. But he has championed some of Trump’s top initiatives, including trying to help Trump overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Trump has privately conceded that Cornyn could face an enthusiasm problem on the right in November, according to one of the people who has discussed the two candidates with Trump. Still, his closest advisers — and the people with the greatest access to the president — have so far succeeded in steering Trump toward Cornyn.
Cornyn, who along with allies like the Senate Leadership Fund and National Republican Senatorial Committee spent roughly $70 million on ad buys, earned 42 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary. Paxton, who most polls had shown with a lead, finished second with 41 percent — though ad spending in his favor was under $5 million, according to the tracking firm AdImpact. Paxton had been endorsed by the MAGA-friendly Turning Point USA, the organization founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Although Trump’s endorsed candidates in Republican primaries typically emerge victorious, there have been notable exceptions. A rare state Senate race that drew Trump’s endorsement ahead of Tuesday’s primary election in North Carolina remains too close to call. Trump’s favored candidate — the incumbent state Senate leader — trails two votes behind a lesser-funded challenger who had the backing of many conservative activists.
After word spread Wednesday of Trump’s intentions to back Cornyn, MAGA activists plastered their social media pages with headlines about Cornyn pushing back on Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, or Cornyn’s comments to reporters in 2023 that it was time for Republicans to move on from Trump.
“This is why the grassroots is apoplectic,” said Stephen K. Bannon, a former top Trump adviser who has aired his “War Room” podcast from Texas for the past five weeks. He is supporting Paxton.
“They hate Cornyn,” Bannon said. “They don’t hate him because he’s a ‘RINO,’ they don’t hate him because of his record. They don’t like him because of that, but they hate him because he has hated on Trump.”
Since Trump secured the Republican nomination in 2024, Cornyn —whom Trump once called a RINO, an acronym for “Republican in Name Only” —has worked to tie himself much more closely to the president. The senator hired Trump’s top political aides, including Trump’s 2024 senior adviser Chris LaCivita, to run his reelection this year.
Asked by The Washington Post last month why he had not yet endorsed Cornyn like top Senate Republicans had urged, Trump called him “a good man” but said he liked “all three” of the Republicans in the race, referring to Cornyn, Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt, who did not advance to the runoff on Tuesday.
“They’ve all supported me. They’re all good,” Trump said. “And you’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked Thursday about Paxton’s offer to consider dropping out of the race, contingent on the passage of the SAVE America Act, Cornyn told The Post, “I think that’s a conversation he should have with the president.”
Still, the uproar over Trump potentially siding against the MAGA base in Texas is unlikely to translate into long-term harm for the president. While polling shows that Trump’s approval rating has slid somewhat in recent months with Republican voters, self-identified MAGA voters still give the president soaring marks, with 98 percent approval, according to a recent Fox News poll.
“More than anger, it’s creating apathy,” said Raheem Kassam, editor of the conservative National Pulse and a MAGA-aligned political operative, referring to activists frustrated about Trump and Cornyn.
Matthew Boyle, the Washington bureau chief for the Trump-aligned Breitbart news site, who has criticized Cornyn, noted that Trump has enthusiastically supported Sen. Lindsey Graham’s reelection bid in South Carolina. That’s despite Graham being widely despised by the MAGA base. Trump supporters largely “haven’t held it against him,” Boyle said.
Conservative activists in Texas have questioned whether Trump’s endorsement will prove to be as effective this time.
Davis, the conservative radio host in Texas, told The Post on Thursday that he had tried repeatedly to identify listeners who were leaning toward supporting Paxton in the runoff but intend to support Cornyn if Trump endorses him.
“I can’t find any. I can’t find one,” Davis said. “So everybody at the White House should know that while Trump endorsements carry a lot of weight, that a large number — I mean, in the millions — of Trump fans in Texas, their message to him is: ‘We thank God every day for you, Mr. President, but we’re going to make up our own minds on this one.’”
Theodoric Meyer contributed to this report
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