Donald Trump railed at Senator John Cornyn of Texas and longtime GOP strategist Karl Rove, accusing them of undermining Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign in the state, a crucial contest for Republican hopes of retaining control of the chamber.

Trump in a Truth Social post Thursday claimed Cornyn and Rove were “doing everything possible to make it hard” for Paxton to win his race against the Democratic nominee, James Talarico, but did not offer any details.

“If Ken Paxton loses, it will be because of WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Political Hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove, who have ineffectively opposed me for my entire political career,” Trump said.

Asked about Trump’s remark, Rove declined to respond. Representatives for Cornyn did not immediately respond to a requests for comment.

Trump’s comments underscore the frustration within GOP circles over Paxton’s prospects in Texas, a state that has long been a GOP stronghold and where the president cruised to victory in all three of his presidential campaigns. Paxton trails narrowly in polls against Talarico, a state representative looking to become the first Democratic US senator elected in Texas since 1988.

Republican candidates are being dragged down by the president’s low approval ratings and the poor marks voters are giving him over higher costs of living and his handling of the war in Iran, putting the party on the defensive across US House and Senate maps. Democrats need to flip only four Senate seats to win a majority on that side of the Capitol.

Paxton, the state attorney general, brings his own challenges to race. He was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 over articles that alleged bribery, obstruction of justice and other offenses, but ultimately acquitted by the state Senate, allowing him to stay in office.

With less than three weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 3, Trump’s effort to preemptively pin the blame for a possible defeat also risks hampering efforts to mobilize voters.

Trump endorsed Paxton, helping him defeat Cornyn, a four-term incumbent and one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate, in a bitter primary battle that dealt a blow to the party’s establishment wing in the state. Rove and other prominent Texas Republicans, including former state House Speaker Joe Straus, have cast doubt on whether Paxton can win.

Earlier: GOP Super PAC Says Senate Is ‘Firewall’ as House Hopes Fade Alex Latcham, the executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, said Wednesday at a Bloomberg.comr event in Washington that Republicans in the state needed to move past the divisive primary and unite behind Paxton. “It’s tough. I know there are still bitter feelings on both sides,” Latcham said.

Trump on Thursday criticized Fox News for giving Rove, who helped then-Texas Governor George W. Bush get elected president, a platform, saying in his social media post that he “shouldn’t be allowed to spew his jealousy” on the network.

Trump has made multiple trips to Texas to bolster Paxton, including this month. The two men, though, have had an uneasy relationship at times, with the president repeatedly joking about how Paxton dresses and his appearance.

Paxton was also caught on audio telling donors and lobbyists that a midterm convention Trump held in Dallas in September had hurt his campaign politically. Trump’s historic low approval ratings have made him a liability for some Republican candidates in close races.