Washington– Returning to the US Capitol after a bitter primary Losing re-electionRepublican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said Monday evening that he does not regret his “momentous” vote to convict President Donald Trump on impeachment charges five years ago.
“I voted to uphold the Constitution. It may have cost me my seat, but who cares?” Cassidy told reporters at the Capitol. “I had the honor of voting to uphold the Constitution. Isn’t that great?”
Cassidy lost his seat in his state’s Republican primary on Saturday afterward Trump endorsed one of his opponentsAfter years of trying to convince his voters of this He still supports the president Although he had They voted to convict Trump In the Senate impeachment trial after January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
But after years of curtly dodging questions about the impeachment vote — and saying nothing at all when pressed in the halls of the Capitol — Cassidy now says he feels “relieved.”
“You’re looking at a man who loves his country and feels good about the way I serve my country, my Constitution and my fellow Americans,” Cassidy said. “Don’t we all want to say, ‘I voted to uphold the Constitution on something so important?’ That’s how I feel about it. And I’m very happy about that.”
Now he joins the club of Republican lawmakers who passed Trump and lost. It remains unclear whether he will join his GOP colleagues such as North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who has become more outspoken since announcing his retirement last year. Cassidy did not directly criticize Trump on Monday evening, saying that “people want me to say negative things, but I say positive things.”
However, he hinted that he might have more to say, telling reporters that he had not yet decided how he would vote on the next Democratic measure to stop the Iran war, and almost criticized a new policy. $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been unfairly investigated and persecuted — and likely include people who were prosecuted and later pardoned for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
As Cassidy talked about his two terms in the Senate, his GOP colleagues who remain loyal to Trump have mostly been quiet or unsympathetic about his loss.
“Bill’s loss was expected, and Bill knew it,” said his Louisiana colleague, Republican Senator John Kennedy.
Kennedy said Cassidy decided to run anyway, “and I respect that, and I thank him for his service. We’re in a runoff now and we have two good people in the runoff.”
Kennedy said Cassidy’s vote to convict Trump five years ago “was a problem, there’s no question.”
“Those who try to destroy Trump politically, who stand in the way of his agenda, will lose,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s closest allies, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Trump agreed, posting over the weekend on social media that “nice to see his political career is over!”
Only Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of six other Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, said she was sorry Cassidy would not return to the Senate.
She said his defeat “certainly has implications for us here.” “I appreciate working with him and his leadership.”
As of Saturday, Cassidy had also remained silent on most of the Trump-related controversies. He did his best to show his support for the president, most importantly, ultimately Support the nomination of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Even after Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism was questioned. As a physician and chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Cassidy’s vote was crucial.
Cassidy wouldn’t say Monday if he regretted that vote. He compared the vote to a bad date in high school and said “life is living forward.”
He was more vocal about Trump’s new “arms control fund,” which is part of a settlement resolving the president’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.
While other Republicans dodged questions about the fund when they returned to Washington on Monday evening, telling reporters they didn’t know enough about it or declining to comment on it, Cassidy said he saw no precedent for that.
“We are a nation of laws,” Cassidy said. “You can’t just make things up.”
Congress should have a say, he said, adding that people he met on the campaign trail “are concerned about making ends meet, not about amassing slush money without legal precedent.”
Cassidy’s support for Trump’s conviction in his February 2021 impeachment trial came as a surprise, after the mostly genial doctor had been supportive of Trump — or at least reluctant to challenge him — during his first term. He grappled with how to vote for several days beforehand and declined to comment on the trial before casting his ballot.
He was one of seven Republicans who ultimately voted to convict in the Senate Trump was acquitted. The only two remaining senators are Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who is also eyeing re-election in her more moderate state.
Cassidy said after the 2021 vote that he was “comfortable” with his decision. But it haunted him for five full years, and became a much bigger problem when Trump was re-elected and Cassidy ran again.
When asked Monday if he would run for office again, Cassidy carefully researched Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss and his false claims that led to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
“I respect democracy,” Cassidy said. “So it looks like that door is closed now.”
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Associated Press writers Stephen Sloan, Joey Cappelletti and Stephen Groves contributed to this report.