new orleans — When Charles Wandfloeh voted Louisiana Republican Primary Over the weekend, he couldn’t help but conjure up the not-so-flattering image of the terrified rodent when talking about Bill Cassidy’s desperate attempt To cling to his US Senate seat though Opposition from President Donald Trump.
“It’s just a squirrel running around the tree, chasing nuts to find whatever it can benefit from,” said Wandfloh, 57, in a suburb of New Orleans.
Cassidy’s stampede was in vain, and Defeat him Saturday demonstrated the near impossibility of a political future within the Republican Party Without Trump’s approval. Despite outspending his rivals, Cassidy finished third in the primary, unable to even make the runoff. The result was the latest and perhaps most dramatic failure by a Republican who has tried to outrun Trump with impunity.
Even within a party known for its political distortions during the Trump era, Cassidy stood out. As a physician, he ignored Robert F. Kennedy Jr Anti-vaccine activism To support his nomination to be Secretary of Health under Trump, but it is inevitable Clash with Kennedy Once he takes the job.
Cassidy also has been unable to repair his relationship with Trump five years after voting to convict him during his impeachment trial over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Although Cassidy tried to reassure Republican voters that he remained committed to Trump’s agenda, this did not satisfy their loyalty to the Republican president.
“He was trying to portray himself side by side with Trump, as if he worked with Trump on this and that,” Wandfloeh complained. “I say: I voted to impeach the man!”
U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who is supported by Trump, and state Treasurer John Fleming, a former Trump administration official, will compete for the Republican nomination on June 27.
“There is no greater endorsement than that of President Trump,” said Letlow, who was the first to vote on Saturday. “We will always sing that from the mountaintops.”
Trump liked what he heard, posting on social media that it was a “great victory speech tonight from Julia!!!” The president stomped on Cassidy’s electoral grave, calling the senator ungrateful for past support.
He added: “His disloyalty to the man that led to his election is now part of the legend, and it is nice to see that his political career is over!” Trump wrote.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who feuded with Trump in the past but has since become a model of loyalty to the president, did not sympathize with his defeated colleague.
“What’s the headline? Trump is strong. Those who try to destroy Trump politically, who stand in the way of his agenda, will lose,” Graham said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “You can disagree with President Trump, but if you try to destroy him, you will lose. Because this is the party of Donald Trump.”
Graham once called Trump an “idiot” and “unfit for office,” and appeared to break with Trump after the Jan. 6 riot by saying, “I’ve had enough.” But Graham did not vote to convict Trump during his impeachment trial, unlike Cassidy and six other Senate Republicans.
Four of them — Richard Burr of North Carolina, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania — did not run for another term after that.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who is still in office and is a staunch Trump skeptic, won re-election in 2022 while Trump was out of office. There’s also Maine’s Susan Collins, who faced Trump’s wrath but was not a primary challenge She is running for a sixth term In November. As a Republican senator from a state that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris won in the last presidential election, she remains crucial to her party’s control of Congress.
Trump’s grip on his party is noteworthy given his lame duck status — he is constitutionally barred from running for a third term despite this. He thought about it -And his low poll numbers. He presides over persistent inflation, economic discontent, and an unpopular war with Iran, yet Republicans still largely agree with him.
As he approaches the latter half of his second term, Trump appears to be putting the finishing touches on a sweeping shakeup of the party he began a decade ago, and his appetite for revenge does not appear to be waning.
Earlier this month, he succeeded Five Indiana state senators expelled Who opposed his redistricting plan. On Tuesday, he is supporting a rival to US Representative Thomas Massie In the Kentucky primary. Massie angered Trump by opposing the tax legislation he signed over concerns about the national debt, his push for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, and his opposition to his decision to go to war with Iran.
Over the weekend, Trump suggested he might next target U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado over her support for Massie.
“Although I have long endorsed Boebert, if the right person comes along, I would be honored to withdraw that endorsement, and support a good and appropriate replacement,” Trump said, even though the Colorado candidate filing deadline passed months ago.
After his defeat, Cassidy addressed Trump’s influence without mentioning him by name.
“Our country is not about one individual. It is about the well-being of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution,” the senator told supporters in Baton Rouge. “The well-being of my people, my state, my country and our Constitution is what I am loyal to.”
But Trump’s role was pivotal for many Republican voters.
Mark Scholingkanb, a 46-year-old who works in the shipping industry, said he voted for Letlow specifically to avoid the conflict that has characterized Cassidy’s relationship with Trump.
“Getting federal dollars into the state is the most important thing to me to help people get jobs,” he said. “Obviously having a senator that the president doesn’t like can cause a challenge or hinder federal dollars from coming into the state for roads and bridges and a lot of different programs.”
Janelle Schacher, a 66-year-old nurse, called Cassidy a “phony” and said she only voted for Letlow because of Trump’s endorsement.
“I follow what he says because I like what he does,” she said.
In a sign of how Cassidy has boxed himself into a political corner, he has also lost support in some quarters for agreeing to Trump’s demands.
Mark Workman, a 75-year-old retired physician, said he voted for Fleming to punish Cassidy for supporting Kennedy’s confirmation.
“If Cassidy had stood up and blocked RFK, I certainly would have supported him because that would have been a tough, tough move,” Workman said. “He had the power to stop it and was too weak to do so.”
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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.