OPINION – Texas conservatives have seen this movie before. A polished Republican talks tough on the Constitution, quotes the Founders on cue, rails against Washington corruption, and convinces voters he is one of the good guys. Then the pressure hits. The cameras come on. The media starts demanding blood. And suddenly the “fighter” voters elected folds faster than a lawn chair at a church picnic.
That is the growing fear surrounding Congressman Chip Roy as speculation intensifies over the Texas Attorney General race. For many grassroots conservatives, Roy is not simply another establishment Republican. He represents something more dangerous, a Republican who knows exactly how conservatives think, exactly what they want to hear, and exactly when to abandon them to protect his standing with the political class.
That perception hardened permanently after January 6.
While Democrats, corporate media, and anti Trump Republicans launched a coordinated political assault against President Donald Trump, Roy joined the feeding frenzy at the exact moment conservatives expected Republicans to stand firm. On January 13, 2021, Roy took to the House floor and declared Trump’s conduct was “clearly impeachable.” The comments were widely covered by outlets including CNN and The Texas Tribune.
At the time, Democrats were aggressively pushing impeachment while left wing media outlets painted millions of Trump supporters as domestic extremists. Conservatives across the country watched banks deplatform citizens, federal agencies ramp up investigations, and political dissent become increasingly criminalized. And there was Chip Roy, sounding almost indistinguishable from the Republicans conservatives had spent years fighting against.
Worse still, Roy’s rhetoric placed him in alignment with some of the most despised anti Trump Republicans in modern history, including Liz Cheney and Congressman Thomas Massie. Cheney ultimately became the public face of the January 6 Committee, a committee many conservatives viewed as less interested in truth than in politically destroying Trump and intimidating his supporters. Roy may not have joined that committee, but to many voters, he helped legitimize the narrative driving it.
This matters because the Attorney General’s office is not ceremonial. The Texas AG is often the final line of defense against federal overreach, politically motivated prosecutions, censorship efforts, and constitutional violations. Every time a city government wants to object to an open records request by a citizen, they need the permission of the AG. Conservatives are not looking for another Republican who caves once the editorial boards and Sunday shows begin screeching. They want someone willing to absorb political punishment without turning on the movement that elected him.
That is why Texas State Senator Mays Middleton is gaining traction among MAGA conservatives. Known by supporters as “MAGA Mayes,” Middleton has cultivated a reputation as an unapologetic America First conservative. He backed election integrity legislation, border enforcement measures, anti-ESG policies, and efforts to stop taxpayer funded lobbying by local governments. More importantly, he has not spent the past several years publicly distancing himself from the voters who dominate today’s Republican base.
To many conservatives, the contrast is glaring. Middleton looks like a man preparing for political combat. Roy increasingly looks like a man carefully managing his reputation with DC insiders while hoping Texas voters forget what happened in 2021.
And conservatives should ask themselves an uncomfortable question. If Roy was willing to publicly break with Trump during the biggest coordinated political attack against conservatives in modern history, what happens when the next crisis arrives? What happens when federal agencies pressure Texas? What happens when media outlets begin demanding prosecutions, investigations, or compromise? Does Roy suddenly rediscover his “constitutional concerns” while conservatives once again get thrown under the bus?
Roy’s defenders will point to his conservative voting record, and that’s fair. He has opposed Biden administration policies and marketed himself as a constitutional hardliner. But conservative voters are increasingly learning that voting scorecards mean very little when pressure reveals someone’s instincts.
And Roy’s instincts, at the defining moment, were not to protect the movement. They were to condemn it alongside people who openly despised it.
Texas conservatives have spent years warning about Republicans who campaign like MAGA warriors back home while quietly serving the priorities of the donor class and establishment once inside Washington. Many now fear Chip Roy fits that mold perfectly, polished, articulate, deeply ambitious, and ultimately unreliable when the stakes become uncomfortable.
The time has come to end the political careers of all who oppose the People, those who oppose the MAGA agenda.