A Republican senator who voted to convict President Donald Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial lost his primary Saturday, reflecting Trump’s tightening grip on the party despite his waning popularity with voters.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy’s defeat, which Trump celebrated as comeuppance for Cassidy’s “disloyalty,” underscores how the president’s “sagging standing with the general public is doing little to deter him from asserting his influence on a party in his thrall,” The New York Times wrote.
It also serves as a warning sign for other Republicans who have provoked Trump’s wrath, Politico noted.
Trump ousted several Indiana lawmakers who challenged him over redistricting, and is campaigning to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie, a vocal Trump critic, in Tuesday’s Kentucky primary.
