"Louisiana voters opted instead to advance two challengers to a runoff election after an extraordinary intervention by Donald Trump to oust the incumbent. Cassidy's bid to win the Republican party's nomination for a third term in the deep-red state was imperiled by his decision to vote in favor of Trump's conviction after the January 6 insurrection. In what was widely seen as an effort to rehabilitate his standing with the president, Cassidy last year cast the deciding vote to advance vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr's nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, flying in the face of the senator's support for immunizations and training as a physician."
"Earlier this year, Trump encouraged the US representative Julia Letlow to enter the Senate race, and offered his endorsement in a bid to unseat Cassidy that now has paid off. Trump lambasted Cassidy on Saturday morning, calling him a disloyal disaster and a terrible guy on social media. Trump criticized the senator's impeachment vote and said he's going to get CLOBBERED, adding that Letlow was a winner who will NEVER let you down."
"With 98% of the vote counted, the Associated Press reported that Letlow received 45.2% of the vote in the primary, against John Fleming, the state treasurer and former US representative, who received 28.3%. Cassidy came third with 24.4%. The race now heads to a runoff scheduled for 27 June. I want to say thank you to a very special man who you all know, the best president this country has ever had, President Donald Trump, Letlow told supporters in the evening, flanked by her two young children."
"There is no greater endorsement than the endorsement of President Trump. We'll always be singing that from the mountaintops. Invoking Cassidy's impeachment vote, Letlow said: Louisiana was not pleased with that vote. They took that as a sign that he had turned his back on the Louisiana voters."
Bill Cassidy lost the Republican primary in Louisiana, with voters advancing Julia Letlow and John Fleming to a runoff on 27 June. Cassidy’s campaign was weakened by his vote in favor of Donald Trump’s conviction after the January 6 insurrection. Cassidy also drew backlash for casting the deciding vote to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, despite Cassidy’s support for immunizations. Trump encouraged Letlow to run and endorsed her, then attacked Cassidy on social media as disloyal and disastrous. With 98% of votes counted, Letlow led with 45.2%, Fleming followed with 28.3%, and Cassidy placed third with 24.4%.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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