Cornyn says he broke with Trump on deficit, border wall, but kept opposition private
By Gordon Dickson
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
October 18, 2020
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn acknowledged Friday that at times he has disagreed with President Trump on issues such as budget deficits and debt, tariffs and trade agreements and border security.
But, the senior Republican senator from Texas, who is being challenged by Democrat MJ Hegar, said he chose to work on those disagreements with the president’s staff in private discussions, rather than by publicly voicing his opposition.
Although polls show Cornyn with a small lead over Hegar, both candidates are vying for undecided voters during an extraordinary election season in which many once-solid Republican public office seats are now in reach for Democrats.
During a meeting with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board, Cornyn was asked if he and other Republicans regretted not pushing Trump to combat the COVID-19 virus more aggressively, or rein in some of his political stances that were unpopular or stood little chance of passing in Congress.
Cornyn initially described his relationship with Trump as “maybe like a lot of women who get married and think they’re going to change their spouse, and that doesn’t usually work out very well.”
Cornyn continued: “I think what we found is that we’re not going to change President Trump. He is who he is. You either love him or hate him, and there’s not much in between. What I tried to do is not get into public confrontations and fights with him because, as I’ve observed, those usually don’t end too well.”
Cornyn noted that his friend, former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who initially was on cordial terms with Trump’s White House, opted not to run for re-election in 2018 after clashing with Trump on issues such as a border wall.
Cornyn said he worked well with the president on judicial nominations, Hurricane Harvey relief, a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal and tax cuts. In those situations, Cornyn said, he was comfortable praising Trump’s work publicly.
“But when I have had differences of opinion, which I have, (I) do that privately,” Cornyn said. “I have found that has allowed me to be much more effective, I believe, than to satisfy those who say I ought to call him out or get into a public fight with him.”
For example, Cornyn said he expressed concerns over budget deficits and debt with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, during discussions about COVID-19 stimulus aid.
Cornyn said he also disagreed with the way Trump handled trade agreements with China and other Asian countries. Trump in 2017 pulled the United States out of a Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement that would have expanded trade in 12 countries.
“I applaud him for standing up to China but, frankly, this idea that China is paying the price and we’re not paying the price here at home is just not true,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn also opposed taking money from the defense budget to build portions of a border wall, saying he is “very much a defense hawk” who disagreed with the use of national security funds for that purpose.
Hegar ‘not a patsy for the hard left’
Cornyn and Hegar met separately with members of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board.
Hegar, a retired Air Force combat pilot, acknowledged that if she were to get elected senator, many Texans would expect her to go against the Democratic Party on some issues.
Hegar said her refusal to go along with left-of-center Democratic positions that she disagreed with made her primary battle against long-time Democratic state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, extra difficult. Hegar defeated West in a Democratic primary runoff.
Last week, Cornyn’s campaign released an ad focusing on comments that West recently made regarding Hegar. West was quoted as saying that Hegar had “a problem all along with Black folks.”
“John Cornyn seems to think I’m going to go be some kind of a patsy for the hard left,” Hegar said. “If I was ever tempted to give in and support a position I don’t believe in, that’s further left than I am, it would have been during a very heated primary. I don’t support Medicare for all. I don’t support the Green New Deal. I don’t support ... wiping out all student loan debt.”
“There’s lot of places I would stand up and provide a check and balance on.”
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