Senator John Cornyn deleted a tweet sharing a New York Times opinion piece celebrating India's geopolitical rise after the post triggered intense backlash amid an explosive immigration controversy consuming his home state, according to social media posts.
On February 20, 2026, Cornyn shared an article by Ross Douthat and Victoria Chamberlin titled "Welcome to the Indian Century," which argued India is prevailing in the standoff between the United States and China through its rapidly expanding economy, massive diaspora and skillful geopolitical positioning between Western powers and Russia. Cornyn subsequently removed the tweet after it drew significant criticism.
The timing proved particularly damaging. The post appeared during a fierce cultural and political conflict over Indian immigration in Texas, centered on the H-1B visa program.
Frisco, a fast growing suburb north of Dallas where roughly one-third of residents are now of Asian descent, had just hosted a viral nearly two-hour city council meeting in which residents and outside activists clashed over what some characterized as an Indian takeover, with speakers invoking conspiracy theories about H-1B fraud and demographic replacement.
The Dallas Fort Worth metro ranks among the top H-1B destination areas nationally. The Indian American population in DFW exceeds 235,000 and has more than doubled since 2000, with Indians claiming roughly 41 percent of all H-1B visas nationally. About three-quarters of the approximately 400,000 approved H-1B applications in 2023 went to Indian workers.
Governor Greg Abbott recently ordered a halt to new H-1B hiring at state agencies and universities. Ken Paxton, Cornyn's primary challenger, announced an investigation into companies implicated in alleged H-1B fraud in the Frisco area.
When Cornyn, who co-founded and co-chairs the Senate India Caucus since 2004, tweeted an article celebrating India's geopolitical rise, critics viewed it as tone deaf. A senator celebrating India's global ascendancy while constituents engaged in fierce debates about Indian immigration transforming their communities reinforced perceptions of disconnect.
This feeds directly into the 2026 Texas Republican Senate primary, one of the most expensive and contentious GOP contests nationally. Ken Paxton launched his challenge in April 2025, positioning himself as the MAGA aligned fighter that Cornyn is not. He has led Cornyn in early primary polling despite Cornyn and allied groups spending over $54 million on attack ads.
Paxton's core argument asserts Cornyn has been insufficiently supportive of Trump and conservative priorities. Specific grievances include Cornyn's support for Ukraine aid, his backing of the DREAM Act for DACA recipients, and his role passing the bipartisan gun control bill after the Uvalde massacre.
The deleted tweet crystallizes the case Paxton and populist right critics make against Cornyn as an establishment Republican more aligned with globalist and corporate interests than ordinary Texans' concerns. Sharing celebratory content about the Indian Century while Texas communities grappled with rapid demographic change driven by Indian immigration, and while his primary opponent actively investigated H-1B related issues, further shows that Cornyn is out of step with Texas voters.
Texas Republicans must reject weak establishment figures like John Cornyn who treat America as a shopping mall rather than a coherent nation and people, while prioritizing corporate and Chamber of Commerce interests over the demographic and cultural integrity of their constituents' communities. The GOP needs representatives committed to comprehensive immigration restriction including H-1B elimination, not globalist senators who celebrate foreign ascendancy while American workers face displacement and entire neighborhoods undergo transformation that voters never approved of at the polls.
