Cornyn’s silence on Trump is deafening

In these odd times, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is a canary in the conservative coal mine. Our state’s senior senator is a reasonable, level-headed Republican plagued these days in a party that gave us a president whose head often does not seem level.

Cornyn, who so far has been unwilling to chirp up about President Donald Trump, is among the Repubs who will go a long way in determining Trump’s fate, including in passing the president’s desired legislation and whether he finishes his term. When Cornyn and his ilk leave this listing ship, Trump’s sunk.

I’ve always thought the thoughtful Cornyn thinks Trump is an unqualified amateur at best and an incompetent, dangerous loose cannon at worst. But, like many congressional GOPers, Cornyn has embraced the notion that at least they have one of their own — sort of — in the White House and should be able to win legislative battles lost while Barack Obama was president.

So far legislative success has been elusive. And Trump’s behavior reached a new low this week with post-Charlottesville comments that gave comfort to racists.

Cornyn’s lack of enthusiasm for Trump was evident last November when he voted here in Austin. “I voted for, uh, Mr. Trump, my party’s nominee,” Cornyn told me, the “uh” saying a lot.

I asked whether Trump is “the leader America has been looking for for many years?”

Cornyn, knowing a wise guy when he hears one, replied, “Ha, ha, ha. I’m voting for Mr. Trump because it’s a binary choice, and I know Mrs. Clinton is not that leader.” Welcome, senator, to the unfortunate reality in which we sometimes vote for someone more for who they’re not than who they are.

“Well, we had 17 choices in the Republican primary, and he wasn’t my first choice,” Cornyn said of Trump.

I tell you all this to show that Cornyn is a Republican who never loved Trump. And that’s what makes him a canary in the conservative coal mine. It’s one thing for Democrats to assail Trump. It’s another thing — a more important thing — when Republicans start doing it. It’s time for Republicans to take sides: for him or against him. The time for silence or mushy middle ground is gone. From Charlottesville to Pyongyang, there’s too much at stake.

U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, is among the few in his party who have full-frontal ond