Former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney made a rare comment on politics this weekend after the electoral defeat of Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary after President Donald Trump elevated two of his challengers in an attempt to oust the sitting incumbent.
Romney called Cassidy’s defeat a “loss for the country,” praising the Louisiana Republican’s character in the upper chamber of Congress. Cassidy once worked alongside Romney when the Utah Republican was in the Senate, and the pair were two of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.
“The Senate to now lose an exceptionally brilliant and creative mind, an MD who chairs healthcare, and a person of character,” Romney said in a social media post over the weekend. “Bill Cassidy’s departure is a loss for the country.”
Cassidy came in last in a three-way race for the Republican nomination, failing to qualify for a run-off next month. He was defeated after Trump-endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming notched the top two spots.
Trump targets Cassidy over impeachment vote and for blocking nominee
Cassidy first elicited Trump’s ire when he voted to convict him in 2021, making him a top GOP target when Trump was reelected in 2024. The president also blamed Cassidy for tanking the nomination of Casey Means, who Trump wanted to be confirmed as surgeon general.
As the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Cassidy blocked the nomination — prompting anger from the president, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and others part of the Make America Healthy Again movement.
“His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of a legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!” Trump said in a Truth Social shortly after Cassidy’s loss Saturday.
Cassidy had some words of his own. In a concession speech, Cassidy appeared to allude to Trump several times — suggesting he could use the final months of his term to be a thorn in the president’s side.
“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,” Cassidy said. “And if someone doesn’t understand that and attempts to control others through 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.”
Cassidy’s loss also showcases the hold Trump still has over the Republican Party and his ability to oust those who cross him.
But it also underscores the private efforts by Romney to preserve a group of Republican senators who were willing to cross the sitting president. The former senator has carefully waded into other political corners recently, even hosting a fundraiser earlier this month for Sen. Susan Collins, according to Politico.
Collins is similarly fighting for her political life running in a toss-up seat as a Republican unafraid to buck party lines.