Trump promised every Republican who voted to end his presidency would answer for it.
One of the Senate's worst RINOs learned a hard lesson.
John Kennedy watched it happen — and what he said on Fox News Sunday is already spreading everywhere.
Bill Cassidy Loses Louisiana Senate Primary Five Years After Trump Impeachment Vote
Bill Cassidy was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in February 2021.
Louisiana's GOP censured him within days.
The state party told him to his face that his vote was a betrayal. He never disavowed it. He never apologized. He spent five years arguing he had good reasons – while every poll in Louisiana told him the same thing: he was done.
He spent $22 million anyway.
On Saturday, Cassidy finished third in the Republican primary for his own seat, collecting just 25% of the vote. Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow took roughly 45%. Republican Treasurer John Fleming finished second. Letlow and Fleming advance to a June 27 runoff. Cassidy goes home.
Trump called him "a disloyal disaster" and "a sleazebag, a terrible guy, who is BAD FOR LOUISIANA" the morning of the primary. After the results came in, Trump returned to Truth Social: "His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it's nice to see that his political career is OVER!"
John Kennedy Destroys Bill Cassidy With One Line on Fox News
Sen. John Kennedy went on Fox News and said what everyone in Louisiana already knew.
"Unless you're God's perfect idiot, the result was predictable," Kennedy told The Sunday Briefing host Peter Doocy. "I mean, 'ground control to Major Tom,' the polls have shown for well over a year that Senator Cassidy was in trouble."
Kennedy called Trump's endorsement of Letlow "the icing on the cake."
"Bill knew that," Kennedy said, "but he decided to run anyway. I respect that. I thank him for his service, he was very gracious in his concession speech."
Kennedy said he has no plans to weigh in on the Letlow-Fleming runoff. "A wise man once said nothing. Why? Because he's a wise man."
The winner of the June 27 runoff is the heavy favorite in November. Louisiana is not competitive territory – Trump carried the state by 22 points in 2024.
The Full List of Republicans Who Voted to Convict Trump and What Happened to Them
Cassidy is the first of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump to actually lose a primary.
The others found ways to avoid that moment. Richard Burr retired. Pat Toomey retired. Rob Portman retired. Ben Sasse resigned to become president of the University of Florida. Lisa Murkowski survived a 2022 Alaska challenge under that state's ranked-choice system. Susan Collins is not facing a primary challenge this year.
Cassidy ran. And lost.
His only company in the "ran and got crushed" category is Liz Cheney, who lost her Wyoming House primary by a landslide in 2022 after voting to impeach Trump and chairing the January 6 committee investigation.
The pattern is not complicated. Republicans who voted to impeach or convict Trump retire, resign, or face their voters and get obliterated.
There is no fourth option.
Cassidy campaigned on pipelines, tips legislation, and infrastructure money he delivered for one of the poorest states in the country. Louisiana Republicans didn't care.
The vote to convict Trump was not a policy disagreement. It was a declaration that the president who won Louisiana by 22 points should be barred from ever holding office again. They remembered every word of it.
Twenty-two million dollars couldn't buy a different answer.
Sources:
- Harold Hutchison, "Sen John Kennedy Says Only 'God's Perfect Idiot' Would Have Thought Bill Cassidy Could Survive Louisiana Primary," Daily Caller News Foundation, May 17, 2026.
- Staff, "GOP Incumbent Senator Who Voted To Impeach Trump Loses Primary," Daily Caller, May 17, 2026.
- Staff, "Sen. John Kennedy says Trump had 'huge impact' in Louisiana Senate race," Fox News, May 17, 2026.
