Pence calls Trump's Jan. 6 compensation fund 'deeply offensive'

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday shared grievances with President Trump for abandoning his conservative base for populist ideals.  In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, Pence notes a shift in Trump’s tone and rhetoric that now focuses on widespread reform in the form of populist policies.  He said Trump’s attempt to get him…

<p>The <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump administration</a> plans to drop its controversial $1.8 billion "weaponization" fund the president sought to compensate alleged victims of prosecutorial conduct under his predecessor, two senior administration officials told Axios.</p><ul><li>"It's dead for now," one of the sources said.</li></ul><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Bashed as a political slush fund that could be tapped by those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, Trump's proposal has drawn bipartisan pushback in the GOP-led House and Senate.</p><p><em>This is breaking news; this story will be updated.</em></p>

<p>Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," former Vice President Mike Pence said the Trump administration's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund was "deeply offensive."</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/05/31/pence-trump-should-drop-deeply-offensive-anti-weaponization-fund/" rel="nofollow">Pence: Trump Should Drop &#8216;Deeply Offensive&#8217; Anti-Weaponization Fund</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.breitbart.com" rel="nofollow">Breitbart</a>.</p>

The former vice president was inside the Capitol when it was stormed by Trump supporters

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday said there has “clearly” been an effort to “rewrite” the history of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. “Look, I&#8217;m very confident that of the judgment of history in the years ahead about our role, about all the Republicans and Democrats who returned that day after Capitol Police&#8230;

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday slammed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent “anti-weaponization” fund and pushed to “get rid of&#8221; it. “Well, look, I think that the weaponization fund is a — it&#8217;s a bad idea from the start. And I would encourage the administration just to drop it,” Pence told NBC News’s&#8230;

Former Vice President Pence said Sunday that his party has “lost our way,” but also went after Democrats by saying they “have lost their minds.” During an interview on “Meet the Press,” NBC News’s Kristen Welker pressed Pence on who he would support in the upcoming U.S. Senate race in Texas, as the controversial Republican&#8230;

<p>Republican primary voters on Tuesday rejected U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, one of the Senate's most senior GOP members, in favor of <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/19/trump-endorsement-texas-senate-race-ken-paxton" target="_blank">Trump-backed</a> Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> Cornyn's loss marks one of the most significant defeats for a Republican senator in years and underscores how loyalty to <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">President Trump</a> continues to reshape GOP primaries nationwide.</p><hr /><ul><li>Trump gave Paxton a last-minute endorsement in the runoff.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"Tonight is the beginning of the fight to preserve every value we hold dear," Paxton told supporters, referring to his upcoming general election campaign against Democrat James Talarico. </p><ul><li>"I've always supported the Republican ticket, and I intend to do so again in this general election," Cornyn told supporters in Austin. "I've said throughout this race that I trust the voters of Texas, and they made their decision."</li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers:</strong> With 76% of the votes counted at 10pm, Paxton was up 28 percentage points over Cornyn. </p><ul><li><a href="https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/texas-primary-runoff-results-us-senate/" target="_blank">The AP</a> called the election in favor of Paxton an hour after polls closed Tuesday.</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom in:</strong> Paxton successfully cast the race as a referendum on the party establishment, energizing grassroots conservatives while dodging concerns about the legal scandals and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/05/27/texas-ag-ken-paxton-impeached" target="_blank">impeachment fight</a> that dogged much of his tenure as attorney general.</p><ul><li>The race became one of the country's most closely watched Senate primaries, <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/04/15/texas-senate-talarico-record-fundraising" target="_blank">fueling millions</a> in fundraising and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/02/05/john-cornyn-texas-senate-primary-ad-spending" target="_blank">outside spending</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>What we're watching:</strong> Cornyn and his supporters warned that the outcome could <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/02/gop-worry-texas-senate-primaries" target="_blank">complicate Republicans'</a> efforts to hold the seat in November against <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/04/29/talarico-cornyn-paxton-texas-poll" target="_blank">Talarico</a>, a state representative from Austin.</p><ul><li>Paxton's win gives Democrats a potentially more polarizing Republican opponent than Cornyn.</li></ul><p><strong>Reality check: </strong>A Democrat hasn't won a statewide office in Texas in more than three decades.</p><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/09/trump-midterms-primary-endorsements" target="_blank">Trump's ruthless midterm power play</a></p><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with new information. </em></p>

<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/john-cornyn-s-defeat-could-be-the-end-of-the-gop-establishment.jpg?id=66838075&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;coordinates=0%2C67%2C0%2C40" /><br /><br /><p>As soon as polls closed in Texas on Tuesday, the Associated Press called a decisive victory for state Attorney General Ken Paxton, presumably ending Sen. John Cornyn’s 35-year political career. The 30-point margin was also another feather in Donald Trump’s cap.</p><p>“Last night was very powerful,” the president said at the start of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting at the White House. In an earlier <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116646308242618920" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Truth Social post</a>, he called Cornyn a friend and promised to headline “big, beautiful rallies” for Paxton in the upcoming months.</p><p>For the rest of the day, Trump posted screenshots of news outlets covering a 100% success rate in primary endorsements so far this year.</p><p class="pull-quote">'It’s an all time total collapse and embarrassment for the GOP establishment.'</p><p>In addition to showcasing Trump’s endorsement weight, the runoff election results also exposed the weakness of the Senate Republican establishment. For months, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott took to the morning news shows extolling Cornyn’s virtues while insisting that he was the key to keeping Texas safely red. The NRSC posted lists of Paxton’s various personal and professional scandals, as Cornyn called his opponent an embarrassment.</p><p>In his concession speech Tuesday night, Cornyn committed to supporting Paxton as the party’s nominee, despite spending months calling him scandal-ridden and morally unqualified to hold office. Chastened Senate Republicans are likewise reversing course.</p><p>“A vote for Ken Paxton in November is a vote for a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America. He has my endorsement and support,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) <a href="https://x.com/barrassoforwyo/status/2059457550345806139?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">posted</a> to X on Tuesday night. He had previously endorsed Cornyn. “[James] Talarico is too radical for Texas. Ken will be a key member of our Senate Republican majority fighting for America First.”</p><p>The same night, the NRSC deleted every critical post of Paxton it had made over the past year, even though its <a href="https://x.com/samanthabrook_/status/2059434193889722508?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a> on the general election does not mention him by name. Some conservative activists now want the organization to clean house. Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle personally tagged NRSC staffers in posts on X, needling them for backing the wrong horse.</p><p>“It’s an all time total collapse and embarrassment for the GOP establishment,” Boyle <a href="https://x.com/mboyle1/status/2059434897769419152?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wrote</a>.</p><p>The NRSC faced a dilemma that Paxton’s backers will now confront. One of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, Cornyn has been a GOP fundraising heavyweight — a potentially significant factor in what is shaping up to be a strong Democratic year. He was also a former NRSC chair in 2010 and 2012. He could have largely funded his own race.</p><p>Paxton, however, will need party money to keep pace with newly emboldened Democrats who are pouring money into Talarico’s campaign. Furthermore, Paxton’s impeachment, messy divorce, and fraud allegations provide plenty of fodder for Democrat attack ads.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/jd-vance-might-be-unstoppable-in-2028" target="_self"><strong>JD Vance might be unstoppable in 2028</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="JD Vance might be unstoppable in 2028" class="rm-shortcode" id="5502e" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/jd-vance-might-be-unstoppable-in-2028.jpg?id=66837948&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C107" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Akos Stiller/Bloomberg/Getty Images</small></p><p>Trump delivered his endorsement for Paxton on May 19 on Truth Social, after early voting had already begun in Texas. He did not notify the NRSC or Senate Republicans in advance of his post.</p><p>“He essentially let them know he didn’t care about their preferences at all,” Josh Blank, director of research for the Texas Politics Project, told RCP. “From a Republican elite perspective, not only does it look like you have to spend more money in Texas now, but you have to convince your donors that Ken Paxton is a good vehicle for that money — and Paxton has a challenging past to reconcile.”</p><p>As if on cue, the first Talarico ad dropped by Democrats detailed the many controversies that have dogged Paxton’s career. His wife filed for divorce in 2025, citing adultery. Former staffers have testified that he used his office to convince a friend to give his mistress a job.</p><p>In 2023, the Texas House of Representatives impeached Paxton on 20 articles for bribery, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power, but the state Senate voted to acquit and reinstate him. In 2024, he paid $300,000 and completed community service to settle an indictment for securities fraud.</p><p>Nevertheless, Cornyn’s re-election bid was already flailing even before Trump weighed in. Conservative voters were not enamored with his 2022 efforts to pass a bipartisan red-flag law. Last year, the National Association for Gun Rights PAC <a href="https://gunrights.org/national-association-for-gun-rights-pac-endorses-ken-paxton/" target="_blank">endorsed</a> Paxton. In 2023, Cornyn suggested Trump might not be electable any more, a comment he walked back in 2024 and last year. But Trump remembered.</p><p>“I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” Trump wrote in a congratulatory post for Paxton.</p><p>Despite <a href="https://legis1.com/news/texas-senate-primary-2026-john-cornyns-last-stand" target="_blank">outspending</a> the Paxton campaign 17-1 in advertising alone, Cornyn remained in a statistical tie with his opponent for most of his campaign.</p><p>“I think Paxton probably still could have won without Trump’s endorsement, but not at that magnitude. It was a blowout,” Conservative Partnership Institute Vice President of programs Rachel Bovard told RCP. “The Senate Republican conference is the chummiest place in America. Their political loyalties are to each other. So I think the dynamic is going to shift a little bit. The conference is being remade, and I don’t know that it’s going to be much help to Trump for the rest of the year.”</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/how-trump-can-fix-his-endorsement-problem" target="_self"><strong>How Trump can fix his endorsement problem</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image image-crop-16x9"> <img alt="How Trump can fix his endorsement problem" class="rm-shortcode" id="32e33" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/how-trump-can-fix-his-endorsement-problem.jpg?id=66837956&amp;width=1245&amp;height=700&amp;quality=50&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C107" /> <small class="image-media media-photo-credit">Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images</small></p><p>From the beginning of Paxton’s bid, it became clear that the race would become about who could relate better to Trump. Cornyn was never the thorn in the president’s side that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) or Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) often were.</p><p>But things came to a head when some media reports indicated that Trump was about to endorse Cornyn, at the urging of Senate Republicans. Then Paxton delivered a public promise to drop his campaign if the Senate passed the SAVE America Act, a voting reform bill that would require proof of identity and citizenship to vote.</p><p>“That was a pivotal moment in this election cycle,” Blank said. “Paxton demonstrated to Trump the lengths he would go to support his agenda and a key distinction between himself and Cornyn.”</p><p>The SAVE America Act passed the House but has not yet moved through the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has said there is not enough support in the Senate to use a filibuster to pass the bill. Cornyn was one of several institutionalist members who said it is important to keep the 60-vote threshold, even if it means not passing the legislation. In March, Trump insisted that he would not sign any legislation until Congress passed the SAVE America Act, and he told the Senate to “kill the filibuster” to get it done.</p><p>“Cornyn long held that he did not think the filibuster should be changed because he held a certain amount of fealty to the institution of the U.S. Senate. Paxton demonstrated his fealty to the president, and that was ultimately much more persuasive,” Blank said.</p><p>Some analysts say this further cements Trump’s political kingmaker status, at least within the Republican Party, even while his popularity is sinking.</p><p>“There is zero doubt tonight that Donald Trump is in complete and total control of the Republican Party,” pollster and political consultant Frank Luntz <a href="https://x.com/FrankLuntz/status/2059440569303405054?s=20" target="_blank">posted</a> on X on Tuesday night.</p><blockquote>He can beat just about any Republican in just about any state in just about any primary. He is chief strategist, chief advocate, and chief voice of the GOP. His name may not be on the ballot in November, but make no mistake: Nothing and no one will have a bigger impact on voter behavior.</blockquote><p>Trump’s involvement hardly guarantees Paxton’s win in November. The attorney general has advantages with name recognition and his record of winning statewide elections in the past. But Talarico is surging with his own fundraising, and Texas Republicans sometimes have a turnout problem in years when Trump is not on the ballot.</p><p>“We would expect most Cornyn-supporting Republican voters to support Ken Paxton come November, because they’ve voted for him in the past,” Blank said. “But if even a small share of Republicans decide that Ken Paxton is ethically unfit for office, as John Cornyn argued and spent nearly $100 million promoting, that makes a competitive election that much more competitive.”</p><p>In a Wednesday <a href="https://hughhewitt.com/majority-leader-john-thune-on-the-need-for-the-gop-to-rally-to-ken-paxton-in-texas" target="_blank">appearance</a> on "The Hugh Hewitt Show," Thune described the GOP’s newfound advocacy for Paxton.</p><p>“Obviously, we are making the pivot,” Thune said. </p><p>“He’s all-in, ready to go for the fall election, and not taking any time off, already on the phone raising money and all the things you’re going to have to do to be successful.”</p><p><em>Editor's note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via <a href="https://realclearwire.com/" target="_blank">RealClearWire</a>.</em></p>

The attorney general was boosted by President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the final days of the race.

<p>The Texas senator was emblematic of the era between Reagan and Trump, as Republicans shifted from the party of business to a cult of personality</p><p>The defeat of John Cornyn is a milestone in the downfall of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/republicans">Republican</a> party. His virtue for decades as a “steady conservative institutionalist”, as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/us/trump-cornyn-paxton-senate-republicans.html">New York Times</a> described him, became his terminal liability. His <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/us/politics/cornyn-paxton-texas-senate-primary-spending.html">expenditure</a> of $92m, the greatest amount ever dropped by a candidate in a Senate primary, could not forestall his humiliation at the hands of the scoundrel Ken Paxton, with his lengthy rap sheet of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/us/politics/ken-paxton-texas-senate-race.html">allegations of bribery, abuse of office</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/us/grand-jury-indicts-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-on-felony-charges.html">felony securities fraud</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/ken-paxton-impeachment">impeachment</a> by the Republican-controlled Texas house, along with his hostile divorce by his wife on “biblical grounds”. Despite Cornyn’s blast of TV ads against “<a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2026/03/06/cornyn-campaign-releases-ken-paxton-scandal-timeline-video-n2672412">Crooked Ken</a>”, the “<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-gop-senator-john-cornyn-attacks-maga-rival-ken-paxton-as-crooked-home-wrecker-in-wild-ad/">Home Wrecker</a>”, Paxton, carrying the imprimatur of Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/05/27/texas-primary-paxton-cornyn-takeaways">trounced him by 28 points</a>. Immediately after the primary, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which Cornyn had once led, set about scrubbing the ads as if there had been no Cornyn campaign at all and the villainous Paxton was the rightful successor to hold the Senate seat Cornyn had occupied for 24 years. The Orwellian erasure was a further measure of the relentless Trump effort to stamp out of existence the remnants of the old party and to build on its ashes his golden idol.</p><p>Cornyn’s ignominious rejection is not his alone. His loss represents the ongoing shattering of the Republican party whose foundations were laid by Ronald Reagan, laboriously built in Texas by the Bushes, both father and son, with their operative Karl Rove, and, within the Senate, where Cornyn arrived in 2002, the ruling Republican structure established by Mitch McConnell. Cornyn rode on the Reagan wave that swept aside Democrats in Texas, to be raised up as a factotum of the Bush operation, and serve as the indispensable conduit of funds from the oil and gas industry to fuel McConnell’s dark money machine that financed Republican candidates, destroyed campaign finance reform, and secured the conservative majority on the supreme court.</p><p>Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/1476777268/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=A+Self-Made+Man&amp;qid=1597952377&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1">A Self-Made Man</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wrestling-His-Angel-Political-1849-1856/dp/150115379X/ref=pd_lpo_14_img_1/141-7485861-0988151?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=150115379X&amp;pd_rd_r=a9c485bb-87bd-4934-9aed-937591fb3ecd&amp;pd_rd_w=WPRE2&amp;pd_rd_wg=C7lVx&amp;pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&amp;pf_rd_r=4TE076HKJFEC3JAZ6JHR&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=4TE076HKJFEC3JAZ6JHR">Wrestling With His Angel</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Powers-Earth-Political-1856-1863/dp/1476777284">All the Powers of Earth</a>. He is a Guardian US columnist</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/31/texas-john-cornyn-republicans">Continue reading...</a>

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on Sunday said he will meet with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R) after winning the GOP runoff to replace incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.  Since beating Cornyn, a four-term incumbent, Paxton says he’s been in contact with Thune, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-S.D.), Republican Conference Chair Sen. Tom&#8230;

GOP strategist Brad Todd on Sunday said President Trump made a “100-million-dollar mistake” by backing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to replace incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).&#160; “I think the president made a 100-million-dollar mistake in picking Ken Paxton and urging Republican primary voters to vote for him. John Cornyn is a much more&#8230;