Texas GOP boos, rebukes John Cornyn over Senate gun negotiations, approves hard-right platform

The Republican Party of Texas concluded its three-day convention in Houston on Saturday night. And despite the party's dominance at all levels of power in Texas and optimistic projections for the 2022 midterms, "the mood of this convention was not hopeful," The Texas Tribune reports. The platform delegates presumptively adopted veered hard right.
The Texas GOP just went "full MAGA," Axios assess.
The platform's more than 270 planks declare that President Biden "was not legitimately elected," define homosexuality as "an abnormal lifestyle choice," call for Texas schoolchildren "to learn about the humanity of the preborn child," urge a 2023 referendum on Texas seccession, push for repealing the Voting Rights Act and the 16th Amendment, and "reject the so called 'bipartisan gun agreement'" being negotiated by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) after the mass murder of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Cornyn was loudly booed when he spoke at the convention.
The modest gun safety package being finalized by Cornyn's bipartisan group would encourage states to adopt "red flag" laws and tighten background checks on gun buyers 18 to 20. The Texas GOP platform explicitly opposes both measures
Polls suggest Texans aren't on the state GOP's side here. A Quinnipiac University released last week found that gun violence has replaced abortion as the No. 3 issue voters are urgently focused on in the state, Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) approval on handling gun violence has dropped to 37 percent, and the race between him and Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke has narrowed to 5 percentage points, from 15 points in December.
A slim 51 percent majority of Texas voters told Quinnipiac that stricter gun laws would decrease the number of mass shootings, up from 42 percent last June, and 58 percent backed stricter gun measures, 93 percent supported background checks for all gun buyers, and 73 percent approved of raising the minimum legal age to buy guns.
Cornyn is one of the top recipients of NRA cash in Congress and has an A+ rating from the gun-rights group. He is still optimistic about the gun bill's chances in Congress. And Republicans told the Houston Chronicle that they were trying to send him a message with their boos, not threatening him with political death.
If Cornyn is the Senate nominee in 2026, "we're voting for him," delegate Michael Walton told the Chronicle. "But he needed to hear what he heard yesterday."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Today's political cartoons - March 30, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - strawberry fields forever, secret files, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 hilariously sparse cartoons about further DOGE cuts
Cartoons Artists take on free audits, report cards, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Following the Tea Horse Road in China
The Week Recommends This network of roads and trails served as vital trading routes
By The Week UK Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
Supreme Court upholds 'ghost gun' restrictions
Speed Read Ghost guns can be regulated like other firearms
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sets 25% tariffs on auto imports
Speed Read The White House says the move will increase domestic manufacturing. But the steep import taxes could also harm the US auto industry.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump allies urge White House to admit chat blunder
Speed Read Even pro-Trump figures are criticizing The White House's handling of the Signal scandal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster
Speed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge: Nazis treated better than Trump deportees
speed read U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reaffirmed his order barring President Donald Trump from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US officials share war plans with journalist in group chat
Speed Read Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal conversation about striking Yemen
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Canada's Mark Carney calls snap election
speed read Voters will go to the polls on April 28 to pick a new government
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published