Sen. Cassidy knocked out of Louisiana Republican primary as Trump-backed Letlow, Fleming make runoff

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40. MaddowBlog-Trump got his revenge against Cassidy, but will Cassidy get his revenge against Trump?

Interesting things happen when members lose primaries and suddenly have the opportunity to do as they please.

There’s been plenty of focus on Trump getting his revenge against Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy.

But I think the next question is whether Cassidy, with 230 days remaining in his term, might also get some revenge against Trump.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-18T18:00:23.096Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/bill-cassidy-revenge-trump-primary

Looking ahead, however, the dynamic that’s worth appreciating isn’t just whether Trump got his revenge against Cassidy, but also whether Cassidy might yet get some revenge against Trump.

MS NOW’s report highlighted a notable quote from the senator’s concession speech:

“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,” Cassidy said as applause from supporters overtook him in a speech after his loss.

In the same concession speech, the Louisiana Republican added, “Let me just set the record straight: Our country is not about one individual. It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution. And if someone doesn’t understand that and attempts to control others by using the levers of power, they’re about serving themselves. They’re not about serving us. And that person is not qualified to be a leader.”....

For the past year and a half, Cassidy, desperate to keep his job and avoid becoming the first elected senator to lose a primary in more than a decade, has kept his head down, sticking to a partisan script and avoiding confrontations with the White House.

But the Louisianan’s term doesn’t end for another 230 days.

It’s possible, of course, that Cassidy, who’s been a conservative throughout his two-decade career in elected office, will keep voting as he’s been voting and will just coast through the next six months in relative obscurity. But it’s also possible that the senator — who chairs a powerful committee — will build on the kinds of sentiments he shared in his concession speech and become a real thorn in the side of the president who ended his career.

When we think about the kinds of GOP senators who are occasionally willing to show some hints of independent thinking, we tend to focus on members such as Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Maine’s Susan Collins. Since Trump returned to power, few have seen Cassidy as part of this contingent. Don’t be surprised if that soon changes.