President Donald Trump woke up Sunday morning with a message for his critics: “It’s nice to see that his political career is OVER.”
The target of that Truth Social post was Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who went down in defeat Saturday night in the Republican primary. Cassidy was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump following the January 6 Capitol riot. Now he’s headed home.
Rep. Julia Letlow, who carried Trump’s endorsement into the race, will advance to a June 27 runoff against State Treasurer John Fleming for the party’s nomination. The Louisiana contest marks another scalp for a president who has made clear he doesn’t forget and doesn’t forgive.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina spelled out the political reality on Meet the Press Sunday morning. “If you try to destroy President Trump, you’re gonna lose, because this is the party of Donald Trump,” Graham said.
The South Carolina senator’s blunt assessment reflects a Republican Party that has consolidated around its leader in ways that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. Cassidy learned that lesson the hard way.
Louisiana’s primary results cap off a remarkable stretch of victories for Trump in GOP contests across the country. The president has systematically targeted Republicans who crossed him, and the results speak for themselves. In Indiana, five of the seven Republican lawmakers who rejected Trump’s redistricting demands have already been ousted from office.
Hours after celebrating Cassidy’s defeat, Trump turned his attention to his next target: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. “Kentucky [to] get this LOSER out of politics,” Trump posted, urging voters to reject the congressman in Tuesday’s primary. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Massie’s House race has become the most expensive primary in American history, with money pouring in from all sides.
For Republican officeholders watching from the sidelines, the message is unmistakable. Cross this president and face the consequences. The voters who make up the GOP base have shown time and again that they stand with Trump, not with the politicians who tried to remove him from office.
Cassidy’s fall is particularly striking given his once-solid standing in Louisiana politics. The senator had built a reputation as a reliable conservative vote on most issues. But none of that mattered once he cast his lot with Democrats in the impeachment trial.
The seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump in February 2021 knew they were taking a political risk. Some, like Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, chose not to seek reelection. Others, like Cassidy, believed they could weather the storm. Saturday’s results proved otherwise.
