Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who lost his bid for re-election in a divisive GOP primary runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, published a cryptic X post on Friday, recounting the “old, but apt fable” about the scorpion and the frog.
The tale, in which the frog is convinced to trust the scorpion, ends in the frog’s death and the too-late knowledge that the scorpion cannot change its nature.
The Cornyn post is drawing vituperative replies from MAGA adherents, who believe Cornyn is portraying himself as the frog and President Trump as the scorpion he ill-advisedly trusted, even if Cornyn does not overtly make the comparison.
One commenter wrote: “Okay, it is now clear. The humiliatingly defeated RINO Cornyn is issuing veiled comparison of a Scorpion to President Trump. Hey Cornyn, TX was going to vote you out because you let the voters down, President’s endorsement against you was the icing on the cake. Stop whining.”
[NOTE: Paxton received a late-stage Trump endorsement that either pushed him over the top or was a savvy bet on which way Texas Republicans were already leaning.]
An old, but apt fable:
A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of…
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 29, 2026
The pile-on of negative reaction to the post reflects the Texas primary voters’ discontent with a lawmaker they felt was insufficiently loyal to President Trump and his agenda, even as Cornyn continued to pledge fealty to Trump throughout his campaign.
[NOTE: PBS titled an article on the situation, “Cornyn went to great lengths to avoid Trump’s wrath. The Texas senator lost his seat anyway.”]
Another commenter gave Cornyn advice about not rocking the GOP boat on his way out the door, writing: “Don’t do this. You can be better than this. Going out this way may make the next 7 months feel better, but it will ruin your legacy forever.”