Donald Trump has sought to deliver a staggering blow to the re-election chances of Senator Bill Cassidy – the president’s fellow Republican with whom he has politically feuded – by giving his “complete and total endorsement” to a potential primary opponent.
Trump’s endorsement of US House member Julia Letlow as well as his encouragement for her to run for Cassidy’s Senate seat in Louisiana comes after the senator voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial during Trump’s first presidency.
Cassidy, a medical doctor, had since sought to win back Trump’s favor – including by voting to confirm Robert F Kennedy Jr as the US health secretary despite Kennedy’s anti-vaccine activism. And Cassidy had since publicly expressed confidence Trump would not make any endorsements as he sought re-election in November’s midterms.
Nonetheless, Trump published a post on his Truth Social platform saying should Letlow “decide to enter this Race, [she] has my Complete and Total Endorsement”.
“RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!!” Trump’s post concluded.
Cassidy was among seven Republican US senators who broke loyalties to their party by voting to convict the president at his second impeachment trial after his supporters carried out the 6 January 2021 US Capitol attack.
Then in February, Cassidy voted in alignment with his party, joining 51 fellow Republicans to confirm Kennedy as the Trump administration’s health secretary. Cassidy has since repeatedly spoken out about anti-vaccine maneuvers that are in line with Kennedy’s philosophies, including Louisiana’s decision to prohibit the promotion of mass vaccination against preventable diseases.
Speaking out against Trump’s snub Saturday, Cassidy said on X: “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.”
Letlow won a special election for the Louisiana-based US House seat in 2021 which her husband, Luke, had previously won before his death from Covid-19. She became the first Republican woman elected to Congress from Louisiana.
Commenting on social media about the endorsement, Letlow said she was honored to have Trump’s trust. “My mission is clear,” she posted, “to ensure the nation our children inherit is safer and stronger”.
Candidates for Cassidy’s seat have until 13 February to file.
The timing of a potential Cassidy-Letlow electoral showdown is conspicuous. In 2024, Louisiana lawmakers approved a shift to a closed party primary system from an open – or “jungle” – system for certain elected positions, including Cassidy’s seat.
Under an open primary, two candidates from the same party can face each other in a runoff if no one receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary. By comparison, the new system all but ensures each of the major parties has a candidate in the runoff. In his case, Cassidy could only qualify for the runoff if he wins his primary, when the old system would have allowed him to make the runoff even if he finished second to a Republican in the primary.
According to the New York Times, Trump called Senator John Thune, the majority leader, on Friday and said he was likely to endorse Letlow. Thune reportedly encouraged the president to support Cassidy, noting long-term consequences and the fact that Trump was beginning to push a major healthcare bill which Cassidy would have jurisdiction over as the chairperson of the Senate health committee.
