President Donald Trump declared that Senator Bill Cassidy’s political career was effectively over after the Louisiana Republican was defeated in a GOP primary by a Trump-endorsed challenger—just days before another critic of the president faces a closely watched Republican contest.
Cassidy has long faced backlash from Trump and his supporters after voting to convict the president during his second impeachment trial following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. On Saturday, Cassidy was defeated in Louisiana’s Republican primary by U.S. Representative Julia Letlow, who had secured Trump’s endorsement.
Following the result, which sends Letlow into a June 27 runoff against state Treasurer John Fleming, Trump praised Letlow while taking aim at Cassidy over his impeachment vote.
“Bill Cassidy’s political career is over,” Trump wrote, adding that “it’s nice to see” the Louisiana senator defeated.
Trump’s Hold Over GOP
The result demonstrates the hold that Trump has over the GOP as he wages a campaign to punish politicians who have crossed him. On Tuesday, U.S. Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky will face a Trump-backed challenger, Ed Gallrein.
Massie has angered Trump by opposing his tax legislation, pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and coming out against his decision to go to war with Iran.
Massie is slightly ahead of Gallrein, 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent in the latest polling for Big Data Poll of Kentucky’s fourth district. This was a dip in support from the 52.4 percent he had last month, compared with Gallrein’s 47.6 percent.
This is a developing story to be updated.
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