{"id":29889,"date":"2026-05-17T20:41:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/29889\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T20:41:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:41:24","slug":"trump-tightens-grasp-on-g-o-p-as-cassidy-loss-shows-cost-of-defiance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/29889\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Tightens Grasp on G.O.P. as Cassidy Loss Shows Cost of Defiance"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Trump\u2019s push<\/a> to oust Republican lawmakers who have crossed him claimed its most prominent name yet in Louisiana this weekend, reinforcing Mr. Trump\u2019s dominance in the party, even as the G.O.P. braces for a potential backlash to his presidency in the midterm elections.<\/p>\n

For the second time this month, Republican primary voters sent a message about the price of defying the president, this time by retiring Senator Bill Cassidy<\/a>, who voted to convict Mr. Trump in his impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The outcome in Louisiana on Saturday followed losses by a group of Indiana state lawmakers whom the president targeted for political payback. And it arrived just ahead of another big test on Mr. Trump\u2019s retribution tour: a House primary in Kentucky on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

In each case, Mr. Trump trained his ire at Republicans for different reasons. He endorsed against the Indiana lawmakers after they opposed a redistricting plan, turned on Mr. Cassidy over the 2020 election and subsequent impeachment vote, and is now trying to take down Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican who has criticized him over the Epstein files and the war with Iran.<\/p>\n

But the moves combine to form a picture of a second-term president who brooks little dissent in his party \u2014 and whose sagging standing with the general public is doing little to deter him from asserting his influence on a party in his thrall.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get on the wrong side of Donald Trump in one of these primaries, and it\u2019s highly likely to be a bad day for you,\u201d said Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist and CNN analyst. \u201cDonald Trump\u2019s word and judgment in a Republican primary is the thing that matters the most. In many cases, it is the alpha and the omega.\u201d<\/p>\n

As voters cast their ballots in Louisiana on Saturday, Mr. Trump signaled interest in a new potential target, assailing Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado over her support for Mr. Massie.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I long ago endorsed Boebert, if the right person came along, it would be my Honor to withdraw that Endorsement, and endorse a good and proper alternative,\u201d Mr. Trump wrote on social media.<\/a> (In response, Ms. Boebert posted<\/a> that she was still \u201cMAGA\u201d and was simply standing with a friend in Mr. Massie.)<\/p>\n

It is a risky approach for Mr. Trump, whose party is hurtling into midterm headwinds<\/a> posed by high consumer prices, the unpopular war with Iran and a concern among some swing voters that the president is distracted from pocketbook issues, consumed by overseas conflicts and various feuds. Polls show that Mr. Trump\u2019s approval rating is well underwater, an indicator of danger for the G.O.P. this fall.<\/p>\n

Now, vulnerable Republicans may feel that they have even less space to dissent from the administration. Even as some prominent voices in Mr. Trump\u2019s MAGA movement have rebelled<\/a> since the war broke out, the president\u2019s hold on the party\u2019s base has appeared durable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an important reminder that while overall his popularity\u2019s pretty low, he still remains extremely popular amongst his Republican base,\u201d Jon Fleischman, a Republican strategist, said of the result in Louisiana.<\/p>\n

The next test of Mr. Trump\u2019s influence will come this week when Mr. Massie, a longtime Trump critic from a deep-red state, faces Ed Gallrein, a farmer and former Navy SEAL. Mr. Massie led the charge among congressional Republicans to release files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, taking on Mr. Trump over his initial resistance<\/a>. More recently, Mr. Massie has accused Mr. Trump of violating campaign promises by starting the war with Iran.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump, in turn, has endorsed Mr. Gallrein, campaigned with him<\/a> in Kentucky and showered<\/a> Mr. Massie with insults, calling him a \u201cRINO,\u201d short for Republican in name only.<\/p>\n

In some ways, Mr. Massie is a challenging target for Mr. Trump: The seventh-term congressman has a unique pull on an independent-minded section of rural Kentucky, local Republicans say, and he has fended off challenges before.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy situation is a little bit different,\u201d Mr. Massie told ABC News<\/a> on Sunday, noting that four members of Congress had joined him on the campaign trail on Saturday. \u201cPlus, I\u2019ve had millions of dollars come in from the grassroots, tens of thousands of donors, to my website.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump hasn\u2019t shied away from picking tough primary fights. On Saturday, Mr. Cassidy, a well-funded incumbent, was the latest victim.<\/p>\n

Mr. Cassidy, facing a hail of insults from Mr. Trump, failed to make a runoff in his Republican primary battle. He finished behind Mr. Trump\u2019s choice, Representative Julia Letlow of Louisiana, and the state treasurer, John Fleming, a former congressman who served as an official in Mr. Trump\u2019s first administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur country is not about one individual,\u201d Mr. Cassidy said in his concession speech. He added, \u201cIf someone doesn\u2019t understand that and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they\u2019re about serving themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Cassidy\u2019s loss offered another signal that Mr. Trump\u2019s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him remains a live issue for many Republicans. Mr. Cassidy had urged voters not to focus on \u201cevents from five years ago, six years ago,\u201d saying that the race was \u201cabout the present and the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump and some voters did not appear ready to move on.<\/p>\n

In social media posts on Saturday, Mr. Trump celebrated<\/a> that Mr. Cassidy had \u201clost by such large numbers\u201d and declared that<\/a> the senator\u2019s \u201cdisloyalty\u201d was now \u201ca part of legend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Derek Babcock, the chair of the Louisiana Republican Party, said that Mr. Cassidy had been a strong supporter of Mr. Trump since the president returned to office and that the senator had labored to convince Republicans to \u201cforgive\u201d the vote in the impeachment trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s worked hard to try to earn that forgiveness,\u201d Mr. Babcock said on Saturday. \u201cI just can\u2019t say that I\u2019m seeing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representative Barry Moore, an Alabama Republican running in a competitive Senate primary, said in an interview on Saturday that the recent results sent a \u201cstrong message\u201d that Mr. Trump continued to have a \u201cvery, very powerful voice\u201d in the party.<\/p>\n

Mr. Moore, who is on the ballot in Alabama\u2019s primary on Tuesday, was endorsed by Mr. Trump in January. He said the development had \u201cmoved the needle dramatically\u201d for him, offering him a roughly 30-point lift in the polls.<\/p>\n

But if Mr. Trump\u2019s latest success was welcome news for the candidates he supports, it may have made some vulnerable Republicans uncomfortable. Matt Rexroad, a Republican consultant, said the president\u2019s approach to primaries was \u201creally a quandary\u201d for swing-district Republicans who would like some space from the president but now must consider how their votes will land with Mr. Trump.<\/p>\n

The interventions by Mr. Trump have been concentrated in deep-red states, and the president has apparently shown a degree of sensitivity to Republican concern that some of his moves could backfire in the midterms.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance offered warm words to Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a vulnerable Republican incumbent who joined Mr. Cassidy in the 2021 impeachment trial vote, saying she was \u201cdoing a great job,\u201d<\/a> even if he sometimes becomes \u201cfrustrated\u201d with her.<\/p>\n

And in February, Mr. Trump withdrew his endorsement of Representative Jeff Hurd, a Colorado Republican, over the congressman\u2019s opposition to his tariff regime, instead backing a right-wing primary challenger. The move landed poorly with some Republicans, who warned that Mr. Trump\u2019s new choice, Hope Scheppelman, could imperil the party\u2019s chance of keeping the seat in November.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump backed off. In March, he reversed himself and re-endorsed Mr. Hurd, clearing the field by inviting Ms. Scheppelman to join his administration.<\/p>\n

In that race, Mr. Trump spoke not of bruising intraparty disputes or unseating \u201cRINOs,\u201d but of a need to unite going into November.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery true MAGA supporter and Republican,\u201d he wrote on social media<\/a>, \u201cif they truly care about saving our Country, will do everything in their power to unify together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Trump\u2019s push to oust Republican lawmakers who have crossed him claimed its most prominent name yet in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[12163,14401,12162,6238,8,14402,798,9,1853,7,1071,11259],"class_list":["post-29889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-stories","tag-bill-1957","tag-boebert","tag-cassidy","tag-donald-j","tag-headlines","tag-lauren","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-news","tag-republican-party","tag-top-stories","tag-trump","tag-united-states-politics-and-government"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116591859011447064","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}