Louisiana’s Republican senator Bill Cassidy has issued new criticisms towards Donald Trump while calling the 2024 presidential race a “sorry state of affairs”.
In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Cassidy expressed his disapproval for Trump’s hostile rhetoric towards migrants, saying that it had “reflected poorly in terms of regarding folks who are coming here … illegally – and they shouldn’t be, but in a dehumanizing fashion”.
“That’s why again, many people continue to have reservations. And I say the best thing going for Donald Trump running for president is that he’s running against Joe Biden, about whom many people also have reservations. And frankly, that’s why people are considering third parties. So it’s a sorry state of affairs,” he said.
The senator also pointed to Trump’s comments from Saturday morning in which the ex-president warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses in November.
“He’s running against Biden, so Biden is going to say it’s about political violence. His defenders want to defend him, and so they’re going to say it’s about economic disaster,” said Cassidy, adding: “There’s always just that little bit of tension there, which allows the dispute about the interpretation, as opposed to the kind of general sort of ‘Is this a person we want to have an office?’”
Host Kristen Welker went on to ask Cassidy whether he agreed with Trump’s pledges to free those who have been charged and convicted over the January 6 Capitol riot.
In response, Cassidy said, “I do not think it’s appropriate. We’re a nation of laws … So I think that would be a wrong signal if you’re the chief executive and you’re responsible for enforcing the laws.”
Despite his criticisms towards Trump, Cassidy refrained from declaring outright whether he would endorse Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.
“The answer I’m going to give … is that I plan to vote for a Republican for the presidency of the United States,” said Cassidy.
Upon being pressed by Welker, Cassidy said, “You’re kind of beating a dead horse right now. I’ve been very explicit in what my answer is. And I’ve answered this in greater detail in times past. And so I’m just going to stay where I just said I plan to vote for a Republican for the presidency of the United States.”
Cassidy, who was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump at his 2021 impeachment trial, also refused to answer whether he believed Trump would follow the constitution in a second term.
“Now, that is a hypothetical, which is hard for me to kind of go at … All I can say is that we have checks and balances within our system that if any one person attempts to act in an unconstitutional fashion that they can be theoretically checked,” said Cassidy.
He also went on to also criticize Biden, saying that he acted in an “unconstitutional fashion when he attempted to forgive student loans and it was stopped in the supreme court”.
“He found a workaround. I’m not sure the workaround in constitutional, but nonetheless, we have checks and balances. So I’m not defending the former president, but if you present me with that theoretical I have to answer it in the context of how our government works,” he said.
