Ken Paxton doubles down on disobeying Trump: 'The president can have his own opinion'

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) again insisted that he would refuse to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate after President Donald Trump suggested he would endorse his opponent, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), in retaliation for threatening to disobey the commander-in-chief's demands.

In a post to Truth Social this week, Trump said he would make his endorsement in the Texas Senate race "soon," adding that the candidate whom he did not endorse would be ordered to "immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE!"

Paxton responded on Wednesday by saying he would stay in the race against the president's wishes.

"I'm staying in this race," the candidate asserted. "I owe it to the people of Texas."

"Well, that's bad for him to say," Trump said on Thursday. "That is bad for him. So maybe, maybe that leads me to go the other direction."

The threat, however, did not change Paxton's mind when he was asked about it on Thursday.

"No, I'm going to give people in Texas a choice," he told MAGA influencer Benny Johnson. "The people in Washington can have their own opinion. The president can have his own opinion, but I've been in this race for almost a year, and we're going to win this race in the runoff."

"So, do you have any indication that President Trump might endorse you?" Johnson wondered.

"Well, I know that John Cornyn has suggested that Susie Wiles, as [Trump's] chief of staff, is behind this. I don't know what's true or not true," Paxton replied.