Trump calls Cassidy disloyal as Louisiana primary looms

Trump-backed Letlow – U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy faces a high-stakes fight in Louisiana’s Republican primary Saturday against challengers backed by President Donald Trump, after Cassidy voted to convict Trump in the senator’s second impeachment trial and clashed with the Trump administ

In Louisiana on Saturday, U.S.. Sen.. Bill Cassidy is trying to survive a Republican primary that has been pulled into the orbit of President Donald Trump. who has been working to punish party figures he brands as insufficiently loyal.. Trump endorsed U.S.. Rep.. Julia Letlow over Cassidy in an unusual move to dislodge an incumbent senator.

Cassidy’s political vulnerability has long been tied to a specific moment: he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. which followed the Jan.. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S.. Capitol.. The dispute has also carried into health policy.. Cassidy, a doctor, has clashed with Health Secretary Robert F.. Kennedy Jr.. over vaccine policy, even as Cassidy provided crucial support that helped Kennedy get confirmed.

Trump added pressure again Saturday morning. posting on social media that Cassidy is “a disloyal disaster” and “a terrible guy.” He criticized Cassidy’s impeachment vote and said “he’s going to get CLOBBERED. ” calling Letlow “a winner who will NEVER let you down.” A third candidate is state Treasurer John Fleming.. If no one earns at least 50% of the vote. a runoff will be held June 27. and the winner will almost certainly move on to the November general election in a state that leans heavily Republican.

The fight is taking place against a voting backdrop that Louisiana leaders say could confuse voters.. The election was scrambled by a recent U.S.. Supreme Court decision gutting a part of the Voting Rights Act that affects how congressional maps are drawn.. While the Senate primary moves forward Saturday. Louisiana leaders delayed House primaries until a future date to allow lawmakers to redo district lines. a timing change that could leave voters uncertain about what’s on their ballots.

Cassidy’s campaign has tried to project resilience in the face of Trump’s backing for his opponent.. Mary-Patricia Wray. who has consulted for Republican and Democratic candidates in Louisiana. said. “Four months ago I would have told you it’s impossible for Cassidy to win this. ” adding. “I still think it’s statistically unlikely. but no longer impossible.”

In New Orleans, Paul Begue, a 41-year-old who works in the agriculture industry, said he planned to vote for Cassidy.. Begue said he was bothered by a video in which Trump said Letlow was “as loyal as can be. ” calling it “the final nail in the coffin.” Still. Begue said. “I don’t care about her loyalty to President Trump. ” and added. “I like elected officials that seem to make their own decisions.”

Money and messaging have also reflected how hard the campaign is trying to shift the narrative.. Cassidy’s campaign is expected to have spent roughly $9.6 million on advertising through May 16, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.. Louisiana Freedom Fund, a super PAC supporting Cassidy, is on track to spend $12.3 million.. Letlow’s campaign, which launched Jan.. 20, has spent roughly $3.9 million, while the Accountability Project super PAC has spent about $6 million since then.. Fleming’s campaign has spent about $1.5 million.

In the early stretch. Cassidy and Louisiana Freedom Fund ran ads attacking Letlow within days of her entering the race after supporting diversity. equity and inclusion initiatives—policies Trump has tried to root out of the federal government.. Letlow said she supported DEI while interviewing in 2020 for the position of president of University of Louisiana-Monroe. and Cassidy’s campaign has tried to portray her as a progressive trying to pass as a conservative.

That approach feeds a larger tension: voters in the state are weighing whether Trump’s endorsement should carry more weight than other concerns tied to Cassidy’s record.. John Martin. a 68-year-old retired engineer in south Louisiana. said he would vote for Letlow because he was upset by Cassidy’s decision in the impeachment case.. He waved a flyer from Letlow’s campaign showing her standing alongside the president. saying. “I know a lot more about Cassidy than I do about her.” Martin added. “But if she’s endorsed by Trump. I’m going to believe that.”

Others fault Cassidy for what they view as missed opportunities on health policy.. Mark Workman, a 75-year-old retired infectious disease physician in the New Orleans suburbs, said he backs Fleming.. Workman said that if Cassidy “stood up and blocked RFK. ” he would have supported Cassidy for what he called a strong and courageous stance.. “He had the ability to stop him. ” Workman said. “and he was too weak to do that.” Workman also pointed to Cassidy’s role as chair of the Senate health committee. where Cassidy has been publicly critical of Kennedy. including over funding cuts for vaccine development.

Trump’s complaints about Cassidy have extended beyond impeachment and into nominations tied to vaccines.. Trump blamed Cassidy for the failed nomination of his second choice for surgeon general. Casey Means. who raised doubts about vaccinating newborns for hepatitis B. a practice Cassidy supports.. Trump withdrew the Means nomination and blasted Cassidy.. “Hopefully all of the Great Republican People of Louisiana. which I won. BIG. three times. will be voting Bill Cassidy OUT OF OFFICE in the upcoming Republican Primary!” Trump posted on social media.

Even as House and Senate primaries diverge because of map changes. Louisiana’s internal scheduling decisions are now part of the political calculation.. Wray said Republican Gov.. Jeff Landry’s decision to postpone congressional primaries may weigh against Cassidy by dampening turnout among voters who are less fervently pro-Trump. especially if confusion arises about the schedule.. “Suspending the congressional primaries hurts Cassidy,” Wray said.. “Some people believe the Senate primary is canceled.”

Cassidy, for his part, argued that the process itself has created uncertainty.. Friday. he complained that a new primary system enacted last year is confusing voters because it requires them to ask for a partisan ballot instead of the previous all-party primary that had been in place.. Cassidy said some people called his office to say they were unable to vote for him.. “The process that was set up was destined to be confusing,” Cassidy told reporters.

One reason Letlow’s path to the race looks so different from typical incumbent-challenger dynamics is that she entered only after Trump made a direct endorsement.. Letlow considered running last year, but she didn’t enter until after Trump announced his endorsement in January.. That left Fleming—already in the race by then—positioned as the alternative for voters who weren’t looking to rally around Letlow as the president’s pick.. Fleming. a former House member and Trump administration official who was elected state treasurer in 2023. had joined the field as a Trump devotee.

Letlow’s political entry also comes with a personal story that sits in the background of her campaign.. In 2020, while she was a college administrator, her husband, Luke, was elected to the U.S.. House but died of COVID-19 before he could be sworn in.. Letlow ran for and won the seat in a March 2021 special election and was reelected in 2022 and 2024.

The pattern running through the campaigning is hard to miss: Cassidy’s impeachment vote. his health-policy clashes tied to vaccine questions. and the president’s social-media attacks all reappear as the core pressure points. while the endorsements and ad spending shift the field around those moments—especially with Trump’s choice of Letlow to challenge the incumbent.

With polling day arriving under a complicated voting timetable and a three-candidate field. the central question for Louisiana Republicans is whether Trump’s push to punish “disloyal” lawmakers will translate into a direct victory for Letlow. or whether Cassidy and the voters backing him see his record as something they can still live with—despite the scrutiny that has followed him through his second Senate term.

Louisiana Republican primary Bill Cassidy Julia Letlow Donald Trump John Fleming impeachment trial Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vaccine policy Voting Rights Act Supreme Court DEI