President Donald Trump celebrated Saturday night after Sen. Bill Cassidy failed to advance to Louisiana’s June 27 Republican primary runoff, marking the culmination of Trump’s months-long effort to politically punish the senator for his impeachment vote.
Taking to Truth Social, Trump framed Cassidy’s defeat as a direct rebuke from Republican voters angered by what the president described as betrayal and disloyalty. Cassidy was one of several Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump following the events of January 6, a move that has continued to divide the GOP years later.
“Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his ‘relationship’ with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me on preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane!” Trump wrote in the late-night post.
The president went on to declare that Cassidy’s political career was effectively finished, saying the senator’s “disloyalty” had become “part of legend.”
The Louisiana race delivered a major victory for Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow, who emerged as the top vote-getter with roughly 45 percent of the vote. State Treasurer John Fleming narrowly edged out Cassidy for the second runoff slot, securing about 28 percent to Cassidy’s 25 percent.
For Trump, the outcome appeared to reinforce his continued dominance over Republican primary politics, especially among conservative voters who remain deeply skeptical of Republicans seen as willing to align with Democrats against the president. Since leaving office and returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly targeted GOP lawmakers he views as insufficiently loyal to his political movement.
Still, the sharp rhetoric also underscored the increasingly personal nature of modern political battles inside the Republican Party. Trump’s message focused less on policy disagreements and more on political allegiance, highlighting how impeachment continues to serve as a litmus test within segments of the GOP base.
Trump also thanked Louisiana voters directly in his Truth Social post.
“I’d like to thank the Great People of the State of Louisiana,” he wrote, adding that the victory would motivate him to “work even harder” for the state and the country.
But the president did not stop with Cassidy.
Almost immediately after celebrating the Louisiana result, Trump redirected his attention toward Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, another Republican who has frequently clashed with him. Massie faces primary voters Tuesday, and Trump made clear he hopes to see a similar outcome.
“Tom Massie of Kentucky, the worst and most unreliable Republican Congressman in the history of our Country, is an even bigger insult to our Nation than Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana,” Trump wrote in a subsequent post.
Trump also claimed Cassidy’s defeat was unprecedented for a sitting senator, portraying it as a warning to Republicans who cross him politically. He again tied the outcome directly to Cassidy’s impeachment vote, arguing the senator had turned against the very political movement that helped elevate him.
The president’s comments reflect an ongoing effort to shape the Republican Party around loyalty to his agenda and leadership. At the same time, the fierce intraparty warfare serves as another reminder of how political vendettas and impeachment battles continue to dominate Republican politics long after the original conflicts occurred — even as many voters remain more concerned with the nation’s economic and international challenges than personal political score-settling.
