House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Sunday pushed aside concerns that Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) primary loss signals the Republican Party has become beholden to President Donald Trump.
Cassidy lost his primary election over the weekend after Trump endorsed one of his rivals. Trump made the decision after expressing outrage that the “very disloyal” lawmaker voted to impeach him in 2021. The president has also expressed concern that the senator, a medical doctor who chairs the Senate health committee, failed to show adequate support for the White House’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
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When asked to weigh in on concerns that Cassidy’s loss shows there is no room for dissent within Trump’s GOP, Johnson said he still often sees robust disagreements within the party in Congress.
“You see dissent here every day. I mean, I deal with it all day long with the smallest margin in history, working through people’s philosophical differences and preferences,” Johnson said during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “But this is a vibrant party, it’s a strong party. We are in a great position to win the midterms and defy history.”
“It’s true that President Trump has a huge influence in [Louisiana], as he does still across the country, and you see that over and over in all these elections,” he added. “It’s the most powerful endorsement in the history of politics, and it continues to be shown.”
After the 2024 election, Republicans hailed a “big tent” coalition transcending gender, racial, and socio-economic lines, which helped Trump win a second term.
In recent months, some top Republicans have continued to stand by lawmakers running for reelection who appeal to varying factions of the party, despite Trump’s condemnation of incumbents, including Cassidy and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who don’t always adopt the White House’s messaging.
Ahead of the midterm elections, Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which serves as the upper chamber’s GOP campaign arm, have moved to praise Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), a centrist lawmaker known for opposing Trump at times in Congress.
Collins has “learned how to walk to the beat of a different drummer” as a Republican, Scott previously told the Washington Examiner, “but she represents Maine in the way that they deserve.”
“She’s far more moderate than I am, but she is consistent with her state, and so we need to have a big tent party that’s tethered to the same value system,” he said.
Vance admitted during a campaign stop in Maine last week: “Sometimes I get frustrated with Susan Collins. I almost wish that she was more partisan. But the thing I love about Susan is she is independent because Maine is an independent state, and frankly, if she was as partisan as I sometimes wish that she was, she would not be a good fit for the people of Maine.”
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But not every Republican has been as fortunate. Cassidy became the first GOP senator to lose renomination in close to a decade on Saturday, after drawing Trump’s ire.
“Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana … suffered an unprecedented loss tonight by not even being allowed to run in the Republican Primary,” Trump said on Sunday. “That’s what you get by voting to Impeach an innocent man, especially one who made it possible for Cassidy’s Senate win. Very disloyal.”
