Updated at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday with news that Texas Sen. John Cornyn has endorsed Roy Moore.

WASHINGTON — Both Texas senators are now backing controversial Senate candidate Roy Moore, the Alabama conservative headlining a war within the GOP.

On Wednesday, Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, endorsed the man who has made sport out of lambasting his counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Cornyn's endorsement follows one from Sen. Ted Cruz, who announced his support for Moore on Tuesday.

Cruz's decision came just weeks after Moore’s chief booster — Breitbart News executive chairman Steve Bannon — vowed to recruit primary opponents to run against Republican incumbents in next year’s election. Except for Cruz.

Moore, a former state Supreme Court chief justice, defeated Alabama Sen. Luther Strange last month in a primary run-off for a seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The race drew national attention, not just for Moore's eyebrow-raising views, such as his questioning whether Muslims are qualified to serve in Congress because of their faith or saying that homosexuality should be outlawed.

Roy Moore greeted supporters before his Senate election party in Montgomery, Ala. President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon is boosting multiple challengers to GOP incumbents and the party's preferred candidates in next year's midterm elections. (Brynn Anderson / AP)

The contest pitted Bannon, former White House chief strategist to President Donald Trump, against McConnell, who favored Strange.

Bannon, who left Trump's administration in August, has declared “it's a season of war on the GOP establishment” and vowed to try to oust any Republican incumbent who doesn’t support Trump’s agenda.

The president supported Strange in the primary, but quickly threw his support behind Moore after his victory, tweeting that Moore “sounds like a really great guy.”

Spoke to Roy Moore of Alabama last night for the first time. Sounds like a really great guy who ran a fantastic race. He will help to #MAGA! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017

Cruz, who with Bannon shares close ties to mega-donors Robert and Rebekah Mercer, declined to endorse a Republican in the primary. He joins conservative Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., -- and now Cornyn -- in backing Moore now.

“Judge Moore has a lifelong passion for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and he has the courage of his convictions,” Cruz said in a campaign email on Tuesday. “In the Senate, we need reinforcements; we desperately need strong conservatives who will stand up to the Washington status quo.”

Still, the former flame-thrower — who once accused McConnell of lying — has taken a softer approach this year, advocating more for teamwork and discussing intra-party disagreements in private.

Cruz's Senate challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, seized on his endorsement of Moore in a fundraising push on Wednesday.

"This is just another example of how far-right Ted Cruz is -- and how willing he is to accept racism and homophobia in the name of party loyalty, " Beto's camp wrote in an email blast.

Cruz's campaign declined to respond to that attack.

Ahead of the run-off, Cornyn — McConnell's right hand man in the Senate — cited Moore's rocky tenure on the Alabama Supreme Court as evidence he wouldn't be a constructive addition to the GOP conference, according to Politico.

But after the election, Cornyn pledged to try his best “to support him and also work with him,” Politico reported.

A spokesman for Cornyn said the Texan spoke to Moore after his victory and offered his support for him in the December special election, when he’ll face Democrat Doug Jones.

On Wednesday, Cornyn said in a statement that he hopes Alabamians "will vote for the candidate who will follow in former Senator Sessions' footsteps as a tireless advocate led by principle rather than politics" and that he looks forward to working with Moore on legislation "that will effect meaningful change for all Americans."

McConnell has said Bannon and his ilk have historically failed to nominate people who can win in a general election, and urged the party to focus on maintaining its majority.

“You have to nominate people who can actually win, because winners make policy and losers go home,” McConnell said during an appearance with Trump last week.