Trump's Influence Persists in GOP Primaries

Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Steve Hayes is joined by Kevin Williamson, Mike Warren, and David Drucker to discuss Donald Trump’s primary challenges against Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Thomas Massie, along with last week’s U.S.-China summit in Beijing. The Agenda:—Sen. Cassidy’s loss—The consequences of crossing Trump—Texas Republican primary—Trump’s approach to China—Taiwan as a bargaining chip—NWYT: Trump’s $1.776 billion fund Dispatch Recommendations: —Will MAGA Come for Thomas Massie?—Democratic Efforts to Reclaim Blue-Collar Voters Get a Test in Pennsylvania—The Benefits of a Later School Bell—Cornfield Baptism Near Omaha, Nebraska Steve Hayes is CEO and editor of The Dispatch, based in Annapolis, Maryland. Prior to co-founding the company in 2019, he worked at The Weekly Standard for 18 years, covering Washington, politics, and national security. Steve is the author of two New York Times bestsellers. He also worked as a contributor at CNN and Fox News, and currently serves as a political analyst at NBC News. When Steve is not focused on The Dispatch, he’s probably traveling with his family, grilling, or riding his mountain bike. Kevin D. Williamson is national correspondent at The Dispatch and is based in Virginia. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 15 years as a writer and editor at National Review, worked as the theater critic at the New Criterion, and had a long career in local newspapers. He is also a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. When Kevin is not reporting on the world outside Washington for his Wanderland newsletter, you can find him at the rifle range or reading a book about literally almost anything other than politics. David M. Drucker is a senior writer at The Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he was a senior correspondent for the Washington Examiner. When Drucker is not covering American politics for The Dispatch, he enjoys hanging out with his two boys and listening to his wife's excellent taste in music. Michael Warren is a politics editor at The Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he was an on-air reporter at CNN and a senior writer at the Weekly Standard. When Mike is not reporting, writing, editing, and podcasting, he is probably spending time with his wife and three sons. The podcast transcription below was generated using artificial intelligence and may include occasional errors or misspellings. [upbeat music] Welcome to the Dispatch Podcast. I'm Steve Hayes. On today's roundtable, we'll take a look at Senator Bill Cassidy's primary loss in Louisiana five years after he voted to impeach Donald Trump, and the president's challenge to Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, also a sometime Trump critic. Is Donald Trump's grip on the Republican Party as strong as ever? We'll also discuss the US-China summit and its implications for Taiwan and, in the long term, for the United States. And finally, not worth your time, Donald Trump's one point seven seven six billion dollar settlement out of the Department of Justice. I'm joined today by my Dispatch colleagues Kevin Williamson, Mike Warren, and David Drucker. Let's dive in. [upbeat music] Gentlemen, I wanna start with the race in Louisiana over the weekend. Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican incumbent, lost in the Republican primary there to two other Republican candidates. David Drucker, let me start with you. Why did Bill Cassidy lose this primary? Because he crossed Trump, and there's one thing you cannot do in Republican politics right now, and that is cross Trump. As I reported today in the Dispatch, actually [chuckles] a really good idea from you, it wasn't my idea, you know, we took a look at the primary messages. What are Democratic primary voters hearing? What do they wanna hear? What are Republican primary voters hearing? What do they wanna hear? And what Republican consultants told me, and it's something they've been telling me for a while, and I just hadn't really featured it in a story, is that there are a number of ways that you can burnish your image with Republican primary voters, and we're-- of course, we're in the midst of primary season. But the number one way to do that is to tie yourself to Trump, to hug Trump as tightly as possible. And if you get the Trump endorsement, I mean, it doesn't get any better than that, and it's just not any more complicated than that, Steve. Yeah. I mean, especially in a very Trump-favorable state like Louisiana, you can certainly imagine that. Look, Bill Cassidy voted to convict Donald Trump in the aftermath of January 6th, and as we've seen, most of the people who voted in the House to impeach Trump or in the Senate to convict Trump are no longer in Congress. Not all of them, but most of them. But Cassidy, in the meantime, uh, it seemed like he was trying to thread the proverbial needle, Mike. He was critical of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Cassidy is a committee chairman for the relevant committees for RFK Jr. and is a physician himself. He asked some tough questions. He pushed Kennedy. He ultimately voted for him. There was some sort of behind-the-scenes deal, I think, to win his support. And then he was occasionally pretty critical of Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services, pushed back on some of the crazier things that Kennedy has said, and I think thought of himself as somebody who was kinda willing to stand up and challenge Trump. At the same time, he did support Kennedy as his-- he supported his nomination. He defended him on certain things. He certainly tried to make himself seem friendly to Donald Trump and the administration. Is that just a hopeless cause, as Drucker suggests? It's just not possible to do? I think it was ultimately a problem for Cassidy in a situation where he had a whole host of problems. And I mean, we can go through some of the sort of more technical problems that he had, which was, first of all, this was the first time for Louisiana in a long time where they had sort of, strictly speaking, you know, party primaries. Before this year, Louisiana had primaries that were open, and essentially anybody could vote for any candidate, both political parties. The-- So the primary itself sort of looked like a general election, and then the general election day in November typically looked like a runoff between the top two. So often- Interactive transcripts are available to Premium members. Join to follow along with the audio.