Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy is up for reelection for the first time since his 2021 impeachment vote. Trump hasn't forgotten.Tom Williams/ZUMA
As voters in Louisiana head to the polls for Saturday’s primary elections, President Donald Trump is doing all he can to ensure that incumbent Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy gets the boot.
Cassidy was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial after the January 6 insurrection, and the president hasn’t forgotten. Cassidy is facing two primary challengers: State Treasurer John Fleming and Congresswoman Julia Letlow, whom Trump has endorsed. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote Saturday, Louisiana Republicans will head back to the polls on June 27 for a runoff.
“Senator Bill Cassidy is a Disloyal Disaster,” Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday morning. “Now he’s going to get CLOBBERED, hopefully, in today’s BIG election, by two great people!!!”
Beyond voting to convict Trump, Cassidy has clashed with the president over HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccination stance—though he also cast the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy to his position. Cassidy’s capitulation in the confirmation battle doesn’t seem to have helped him much with Trump’s and Kennedy’s loyalists. MAHA PAC, a group associated with Kennedy’s agenda, has spent six figures opposing Cassidy and supporting Letlow. Still, Cassidy outraised both of his challengers by millions of dollars.
Letlow has spent her time in Congress focused on the culture war in education, sponsoring a “Parents Bill Of Rights Act” that would require educators to notify parents if a child requests to use a different name or pronouns in school. It would also allow parents to review all educational materials, such as library books. Despite this, Cassidy’s campaign has spent heavily on ads calling her “Liberal Letlow.”
Of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 and the seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict him, only four have subsequently managed to win reelection. Most retired, lost primaries, or were redistricted out of their seats.
If Trump gets his way, Cassidy will become the next apostate to be ousted. And three days from now, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie—a Republican who didn’t vote to impeach Trump but has opposed him on numerous other issues—will attempt to defend his seat against a Trump-backed challenger, too.
