Bill Cassidy takes jab at Trump in concession speech: 'You don’t claim the election was stolen'

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA: Bill Cassidy appeared to take a thinly veiled shot at Donald Trump while conceding defeat on Saturday, May 16, after losing Louisiana’s Republican Senate primary race.

Cassidy, who came third in the primary contest, used his concession speech to deliver a pointed message about democracy and election results - one that his supporters seemed to instantly recognize as a reference to Trump and his repeated claims about the 2020 election.

The Republican senator’s defeat marked a major political victory for Trump, who heavily backed efforts to remove Cassidy from office after the senator voted to convict him following the January 6 Capitol riot.

Bill Cassidy’s concession speech draws immediate reaction

Speaking to supporters after the results became clear, Cassidy reflected on losing the race while stressing the importance of accepting election outcomes.

“When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to,” Cassidy said. “But you don’t pout. You don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen.”

The crowd immediately reacted to the remark, widely understood as a direct reference to Trump’s past election fraud claims.

Cassidy also appeared to take another shot at the president while discussing attacks made against him during the campaign.

“Insults only bother me if they come from somebody of character and integrity, and I find that people of character and integrity don’t spend their time attacking people on the internet,” Cassidy told supporters.

“Our country is not about one individual,” he added. “It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution.”

Donald Trump aggressively backs effort to unseat Bill Cassidy

Cassidy’s loss came after months of pressure from Trump and his allies inside Louisiana’s Republican Party.

Earlier this year, Trump encouraged Julia Letlow to enter the Senate race and later endorsed her campaign in a direct effort to defeat Cassidy.

On Saturday morning, Trump attacked Cassidy on social media, calling him “a disloyal disaster” and “a terrible guy.”

The president also criticized Cassidy’s impeachment vote and predicted he would “get CLOBBERED” in the election.

With nearly all votes counted, Letlow secured first place with 45.2% of the vote, while John Fleming finished second with 28.3%. Cassidy came third with 24.4%, ending his campaign.

The race will now move to a runoff election scheduled for June 27.

Speaking after her victory, Letlow thanked Trump for helping boost her campaign.

“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,” she said.

“There is no greater endorsement than the endorsement of President Trump,” Letlow added.

Bill Cassidy struggles to repair relationship with Trump supporters

Cassidy’s political standing inside the Republican Party had remained shaky ever since he voted in favor of convicting Trump after the January 6 insurrection.

Louisiana Republicans later formally censured Cassidy over the vote, which placed him among the small number of Republican senators willing to break with Trump publicly.

In the years that followed, Cassidy appeared to make several attempts to repair his relationship with Trump and conservative voters.

Last year, he cast the deciding vote advancing Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, despite previously supporting vaccines as a physician and senator.

Even so, Cassidy continued to occasionally criticize members of Trump’s administration and policies tied to the president.

He also opposed Trump’s push to confirm wellness influencer Casey Means as US surgeon general, a move that reportedly frustrated the president.