SouthernWorldwide.com – Former Utah Senator Mitt Romney has stated that Senator Bill Cassidy’s defeat in the Louisiana Republican Primary over the weekend represents “a loss for the country.”
Cassidy’s primary loss occurred five years after he voted to convict President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial, stemming from the events of January 6th at the U.S. Capitol.
“The Senate is now losing an exceptionally brilliant and creative mind, an MD who chairs healthcare, and a person of character,” Romney posted on X on Sunday. “Bill Cassidy’s departure is a loss for the country.”
In the GOP primary held on Saturday, Trump-backed Representative Julia Letlow and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming both secured more votes than Cassidy. They will proceed to the runoff election next month to determine the Republican nominee. This makes Cassidy the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.
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Following Cassidy’s defeat, Trump took to social media to express his satisfaction with the senator’s ouster.
“His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of a legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Romney, who has been a vocal critic of Trump and voted to convict him in both impeachment proceedings in 2020 and 2021, was not the sole Republican senator to comment on Cassidy’s loss.
“Unless you’re your god’s perfect idiot, the result was predictable,” Senator John Kennedy remarked. “I mean, ground control to Major Tom. The polls have shown for well over a year that Sen. Cassidy was in trouble.”
Kennedy added that Trump’s endorsement of Letlow “was sort of the icing on the cake.”
“Bill knew that, but he decided to run anyway,” Kennedy continued. “I respect that. I thank him for his service.”
Meanwhile, Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., suggested on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Cassidy’s primary defeat was a direct consequence of his 2021 vote to convict Trump during the second impeachment trial. Graham stated that Republicans who “try to destroy” Trump politically should expect repercussions from GOP voters.
“There’s no room in this party to destroy his agenda or to destroy him and his family as a Republican,” Graham asserted. “If you align with Democrats to stop his agenda like Massie does, you’re going to lose. If you align with Democrats to drive him out of office like Cassidy did, you’re going to lose.”
In his concession speech to his supporters, Cassidy commented, “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to.”
“But you don’t pout, you don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen…. You don’t manufacture some excuse,” Cassidy said, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Trump. “You thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you’ve had that privilege. And that’s what I’m doing right now.”
