Donald Trump has launched into a morning meltdown at John Cornyn after the outgoing Texas senator said he would not support Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as attorney general permanently.
In a Truth Social rant posted just after 7 a.m. Friday, the 80-year-old went on a lengthy tirade against Cornyn, who will leave office in January after losing the Texas Senate GOP primary to Trump’s scandal-hit endorsed candidate, Ken Paxton.
Trump accused Cornyn of not having an issue with his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund for those who were “hunted down like dogs” during the Joe Biden administration—which Blanche tried to set up to bipartisan outrage—until the senator lost his re-election bid.
“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined! Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed,” Trump wrote.
“Todd Blanche, a good man, should be immediately approved as U.S. Attorney General.”
The nomination process for Acting Attorney General Blanche, who just so happens to be Trump’s former personal lawyer, is in jeopardy due to opposition from Republican rebels Cornyn and North Carolina Sen Thom Tillis, who is set to retire at the end of his current term.
Both Cornyn and Tillis said they will not support Blanche’s confirmation unless he and the Department of Justice can guarantee that the $1.8 billion slush fund to compensate Trump allies who claim they were wrongfully persecuted by the Biden and Obama administrations—including those convicted of attacking police officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol—will never be revived.
While Blanche announced in June that the DOJ will no longer be moving forward with the controversial competition scene, he has yet to confirm in writing that it has been abandoned.
On Wednesday night, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley canceled a planned Thursday confirmation vote for Blanche due to Cornyn’s and Tillis’ objections.
“Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job,” a spokesperson for Grassley said in a statement.
After the vote was postponed, Trump floated pulling Todd’s nomination to serve as attorney general on a full-time basis until after Cornyn and Tillis have left office.
“I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office,” Trump wrote in a separate Truth Social rant.
However, the plan comes at an enormous risk. There is a chance that the GOP will no longer control the upper chamber following November’s midterm elections, with a Democrat-controlled Senate all but guaranteed not to confirm Blanche for the attorney general role.
“POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis,” Cornyn wrote on X, while sharing Trump’s Thursday Truth Social post.
