President Donald Trump lashed out at Senator Bill Cassidy in a social media post on Saturday, calling the Louisiana Republican “a disloyal disaster,” a “sleazebag” and “terrible guy” who he claimed is “bad” for his own state.
It is the latest bit of evidence that Cassidy has totally failed to rehabilitate himself with the president after voting to convict him during his second impeachment trial in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riots—and also that he might have lost the support of MAGA voters for good.
The two-term incumbent is currently polling in third place in the GOP primary for his Louisiana Senate seat, trailing Trump’s endorsed candidate, Representative Julia Letlow, and the second challenger, Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming.
Should he finish third and lose to the two rivals in the primary on Saturday, his defeat would count as a stunning victory for Trump, proving he still dominates the Republican Party and has the power to punish and unseat those who cross him and step out of line.
‘Going to Get Clobbered’
From the way Trump insulted him on social media, it is clear that the president is not willing to forgive Cassidy for voting to impeach him in 2021—and would like to see him lose the primary.
“His entire past campaign for the Senate was about ‘TRUMP,’ how he’s with me all the way, and then, after winning, he turned around and voted to IMPEACH me for something that has now proven to be total ‘bullshit!’,” the president wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
“He knew that at the time, but didn’t care,” he added.
Trump wrote that Cassidy is “going to get CLOBBERED” in the primary, praising the other two candidates as “two great people.”
She called Letlow “a winner who will NEVER let you down.”
Trump is ‘Guilty’
Explaining his decision to convict Trump in 2021, Cassidy stated plainly: “I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty.”
In interviews during the 2024 presidential cycle, Cassidy also criticised Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric as damaging and inappropriate, saying his “dehumanizing” language “reflected poorly” on the country.
The Louisiana senator also warned that Trump’s communication style often “walks up to the edge,” suggesting that it comes close to crossing acceptable political or moral boundaries.
But over the past two years, after facing the wrath of the president, the senator had tried to realign himself with Trump and the MAGA movement—including by backing controversial Cabinet nominees such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, adopting more Trump-friendly rhetoric, and embracing unpopular tariffs.
That effort has clearly failed to put him back in Trump’s good graces.
The Answer From the Polls—And Voters
On the day of the primary, most polling puts Cassidy in third place after Letlow and Fleming. A poll by Quantus Insights conducted between May 6 and 7 put Letlow ahead with 42 percent of the vote, followed by Fleming with 30 percent and Cassidy with 20 percent.
GOP voters will have until 8 p.m. local time (CT), or 9 p.m. ET, to decide whether they want to have Cassidy run for a third-term or pick one of the two other candidates.
Other Republicans Who Voted to Convict Trump In 2021
Of the six other Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in 2021 together with Cassidy, only a couple are still around.
Former Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska left the Senate to become president of the University of Florida. Former Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania both announced their retirement and did not seek re-election. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah announced his retirement from the Senate in 2024.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is still serving in the Senate, and Trump has shown no interest in challenging her due to the state’s Democratic leanings. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is also still serving in the Senate after surviving Trump’s opposition in 2022, aided by Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system.
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