Texas Republican becomes latest to attack Trump as senate races tighten

Senator compares dealing with president to unhappy marriage, says change ‘doesn’t usually work out very well’

Another Republican senator has launched an attack on Donald Trump, who was compared to a stubborn married man, amid competitive election races.

Speaking with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Sunday, Republican senator John Cornyn openly criticised the US president as someone who he had personal disagreements with, in apparent comparison to a troubled marriage.

“Maybe like a lot of women who get married and think they’re going to change their spouse,” he told the Star-Telegram in an interview published on Sunday. “That doesn’t usually work out very well,”

Mr Cornyn, who was elected as Texas senator in 2002, sought to put distance between his record and the president, as he admitted that he avoided public confrontations with the president.

“But when I have had differences of opinion, which I have, [I] do that privately,” said Mr Cornyn. “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.”

“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,” the senator said.

Those comments come as opinion polls suggest Texas and other once-predictable states could prove competitive for Democratic challengers to Congress, with Mr Cornyn’s opponent, MJ Hegar, as close as three percentage points behind in an opinion poll published by Public Policy Polling last week.

Mr Cornyn’s comments come after Nebraska’s Republican senator, Ben Sasse, was reported to have said Mr Trump mishandled the coronavirus response, "kisses dictators' butts," and disrespects women.

In comments made to constituents last week, the Washington Examiner reported, Mr Sasse warned that Republicans could lose the Senate, in part thanks to Mr Trump.

Responding to the report, the president said the senator was “little” and “the least effective of our 53 Republican senators”, but with that aside, “a wonderful guy!”