John Cornyn spent nearly $70 million in the Texas primary pretending he's always been tough on the border.
Now a video he forgot to delete is telling a very different story.
With the May 26 runoff against Ken Paxton closing in fast, what Cornyn's team did the moment conservatives found that video is something every Texas Republican needs to see.
Cornyn Amnesty Video Resurfaces Weeks Before Texas Senate Runoff
MAGA activist and grassroots organizer Scott Presler unearthed a 2020 campaign video still sitting on Cornyn's official Senate YouTube page – posted in Spanish, openly advocating for policies that would hand legal status to illegal aliens.
That's not spin.
That's amnesty.
The second it started going viral, Cornyn's team scrambled to make the video private.
Gone. Disappeared. Scrubbed.
Except Presler had already seen it – and he wasn't going to let Cornyn bury it.
"After we published an unearthed video of Senator Cornyn promoting amnesty for illegal aliens, Cornyn's team made the video private on YouTube," Presler wrote. "You can't hide from your pro-amnesty record."
Attorney General Ken Paxton made sure the whole state heard it.
"John Cornyn, call your office," Paxton posted on X.
Two words. No explanation needed.
Cornyn Immigration Record Shows a Pattern Texas Republicans Already Know
The YouTube video didn't come from nowhere.
Cornyn has been playing both sides of the immigration debate for decades – and conservative Texans have the receipts.
In 2013, Cornyn was at the center of the Senate's infamous Gang of Eight push – the bipartisan immigration overhaul that would have put millions of illegal aliens on a path to citizenship.
Cornyn ultimately voted against the final bill.
But he spent weeks trying to keep it alive, filing a 134-page amendment designed to attach border security triggers rather than kill the legislation outright – the classic Washington move of an institutionalist who wants to be on both sides of the camera at once.
That's not a border hawk.
That's posturing.
Then in 2024, Cornyn raised "serious concerns" about the bipartisan Lankford border bill – a bill Trump called horrendous and personally pressured Republicans to kill.
Cornyn eventually voted no.
But the pattern is always the same: Cornyn takes the meeting, works the room, hedges his bets – and only lands on the right side when the political winds make it unavoidable.
Texas conservatives knew exactly who they were dealing with.
That's why they forced this runoff in the first place.
https://twitter.com/realBrandonGill/status/2047498783085211741
Ken Paxton vs John Cornyn on the Border: One Fought, One Made Deals
While Cornyn was negotiating in Washington, Paxton was suing the Biden administration – over open-border executive orders, vaccine mandates, transgender policies pushed into Texas schools – and winning.
He built his entire tenure as Attorney General around fighting the federal government when it came for Texas.
No amendments.
No half-measures.
No Spanish-language YouTube videos that needed to be quietly buried six years later.
The runoff is May 26 – and primary runoffs favor the candidate with the most fired-up base.
Paxton leads Cornyn by 8 points among likely runoff voters, according to a Texas Public Opinion Research poll released April 17.
That lead holds even if Trump endorses Cornyn.
The MAGA voters who will decide this race aren't looking for someone who votes the right way when Trump forces their hand.
They're looking for someone who never needed his hand forced.
Cornyn can delete the video.
He can't delete the record that made him post it.
Sources:
- Jim Hoft, "RINO John Cornyn's Team 'Forgot' To Delete YouTube Video Promoting 'Amnesty' For Illegal Aliens," The Gateway Pundit, April 24, 2026.
- Scott Presler, post on X, April 2026.
- Ken Paxton, post on X, April 2026.
- Texas Public Opinion Research / Slingshot Strategies poll of likely GOP runoff voters, April 17, 2026, via KERA News.
- Houston Public Media, "John Cornyn and Ken Paxton set for runoff in Texas' GOP Senate primary," March 4, 2026.
