Collin GOP Accuses Cornyn of Selling Out
Then Lying to Convention on Gun Bill Role

Capitol Inside
August 2, 2022

The Collin County GOP voted on Tuesday to solidify U.S. Senator John Cornyn's status as the leading Republican in Name Only in Texas with a vote to censure the veteran leader on Monday night for dealing with Democrats on gun legislation and other bipartisan measures including funding for critical race theory.

The Collin Republican resolution portrays the state's senior senator as a Benedict Arnold of the highest order - with most of the venom reserved for his work on a gun safety plan that he crafted in June with support on both sides of the aisle.

Wielding powers afforded by the Republican Party of Texas Rule 44, the Collin GOP's executive committee accused Cornyn of violating seven of nine core principles including two that he allegedly shattered with an appearance at the state GOP convention in June when he was all but booed off the stage. The local party punishment decree expressed righteous indignation over Cornyn's attempt to defend his position as the chief negotiator on the gun package.

"Whereas, Senator Cornyn, after having betrayed these several Republican principles with this one issue, had the unmitigated temerity to try to convince thousands of Republican delegates at the 2022 RPT convention that was working to protect the 2nd amendment, and such subterfuge is a gross violation of the third and fifth RPT core principles, of preservation of Texas and American sovereignty, and of personal accountability and responsibility."

The lion's share of the alleged offenses are products of the central role on the bipartisan gun bill. But the Collin Republicans also cite Cornyn for core party principle infractions in connection with positions on presidential appointees and federal funding for programs designed to "foster the imposition of critical race theory" in the schools.

The Collin County party resolution scorches Cornyn for selling out to Democrats in violation of the RPT's first core principle, "which affirms our fidelity to the founding documents, which include our God-given right to self defense, codified in the Second Amendment, which prohibits the exact infringements which Senator Cornyn voted for, as he negotiated our rights away to the Democratic Party, and he also violated the RPT's ninth core principle, which supports a free enterprise society unencumbered by government interference or subsidies."

Donald Trump has attacked Cornyn as a traitorous RINO as a consequence of his part in the gun deal - a distinction that the former president has extended to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on multiple occasions. McConnell and Cornyn were one of 25 Senate Republicans who signed a letter today endorsing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan despite threats and intimidations from the Chinese government. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas declined to add his name to the rare salute to the most powerful Democratic leader in Congress.

The move to punish Cornyn has been ratified by other local party organizations such as the Harrison County GOP in Texarkana. The censure resolutions have no effect on the recipients beyond bad advertising for a future primary campaign. After a victory in 2020 over Democrat MJ Hegar, Cornyn won't be up for re-election again until 2026.

Collin County was the largest Texas county that Trump carried in the 2020 general election when Trump beat President Joe Biden there by less than 4 points with 51 percent of the vote. Cruz defeated current gubernatorial nominee Beto O'Rourke in Collin County in 2018 by 6 points before Democrats fared better there two years later.