Red Flag

Week 20 of 2026 brings Rachel and Jordyn to the Texas Senate runoff — and to a ten-week-old Trump endorsement promise that still hasn't been kept.

With the May 26 runoff two weeks out, Ken Paxton leads John Cornyn by three points among likely voters despite a securities fraud indictment, an impeachment acquittal, and a divorce filed on biblical grounds. Democrat James Talarico leads both of them in general election polling. Cornyn called this outcome a potential GOP massacre — before the primary. The receipts are all accounted for.

Rachel and Jordyn aren't entirely in agreement on who owns the blame. Rachel focuses on the 24% defection number as the clearest warning sign. Jordyn asks the harder question: if party leaders knew the math and still got here, what does accountability actually look like?

• Trump's March 4th endorsement promise, read aloud and still unanswered
• Cornyn's same-day filibuster flip-then-reversal, and what it cost him
• The 27-point education gap inside a single Republican primary
• Three concrete signals to watch on election night

The question this episode tries to answer: if the party warned itself and the voters didn't listen, is it still the party's fault when it loses?