Trump knifes Sen. Bill Cassidy by unexpectedly backing potential primary foe
WASHINGTON — President Trump preemptively endorsed a potential GOP primary foe of incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, a trained gastroenterologist who has been apprehensive about some of the administration’s vaccine and medical policies.
The president encouraged Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) to jump into the race for the Senate, hailing the mother of two as a “TOTAL WINNER” and “wonderful person.”
“I am hearing that Julia is considering launching her Campaign for the United States Senate in Louisiana, a place I love and WON BIG, six times,” Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday.
“Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!”
Cassidy (R-La.) launched his re-election bid last year and affirmed his commitment to running Saturday despite the president’s stamp of approval for Letlow.
Sen. Bill Cassidy has the backing of Senate GOP leadership.“I’m proudly running for re-election as a principled conservative who gets things done for the people of Louisiana. If Congresswoman Letlow decides to run I am confident I will win,” he posted on X after Trump’s preemptive endorsement.
Cassidy, who chairs the influential Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, had spent months angling to avoid having Trump defect to a primary challenger.
Last year, he begrudgingly voted for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as Health and Human Services secretary. Cassidy has since sidestepped questions about whether he regrets his vote, given some of his differences with the Kennedy scion on vaccines.
Despite working to mend fences and have a constructive working relationship with Trump, Cassidy previously rankled the president by calling on him to drop out of the 2024 election in the wake of his indictment in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
Cassidy was also one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The Louisiana senator and colleagues Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are the only three of that cohort still in the Senate.
Rep. Julia Letlow has been toying with a Senate run for months. During Trump’s second term, however, Cassidy has backed the president on key votes such as war powers resolutions and measures to rein in his use of tariffs.
Last week, Cassidy pushed for the Food and Drug Administration to restore safeguards on the use of mifepristone, part of a two-drug regimen for medical abortions.
Prior to Trump’s surprise endorsement Saturday, Cassidy appeared to be on a glidepath to winning a third term in the Senate. Trump refrained from bashing him directly in his nod for Letlow.
Cassidy enjoys the backing of GOP leadership in the Senate and the Republicans’ official Senate campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He also has a roughly $11 million war chest.
Meanwhile, Letlow has been coy about whether she will enter the race, as rumors spread for months that she was mulling it.
“I’m honored to have President Trump’s endorsement and trust. My mission is clear: to ensure the nation our children inherit is safer and stronger,” Letlow posted on X in response to Trump’s advocacy.
“This United States Senate seat belongs to the people of Louisiana, because we deserve conservative leadership that will not waver.”
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