Cassidy primary defeat is a 'loss for the country,' Romney says

Sen. Bill Cassidy’s loss in the Louisiana Republican Primary over the weekend is "a loss for the country," former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said.

Cassidy’s loss comes five years after he voted to convict President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial for his role in the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"The Senate to now lose an exceptionally brilliant and creative mind, an MD who chairs healthcare, and a person of character," Romney wrote Sunday in a post on X. "Bill Cassidy’s departure is a loss for the country."

Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming both topped Cassidy in Saturday's GOP primary. They will advance to next month's runoff for the Republican nomination, while Cassidy becomes the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.

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After Cassidy was defeated, Trump took to social media to revel in the senator's ouster.

"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 wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Romney, a vocal critic of Trump who voted to convict him during both of his impeachment proceedings in 2020 and 2021, wasn’t the only Republican senator to weigh in on Cassidy’s defeat.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Cassidy’s loss was expected during an interview on Fox News’ "The Sunday Briefing."

"Unless you're your god's perfect idiot, the result was predictable," Kennedy said. "I mean, ground control to Major Tom. The polls have shown for well over a year that Sen. Cassidy was in trouble."

Kennedy said Trump's endorsement of Letlow "was sort of the icing on the cake."

"Bill knew that, but he decided to run anyway," Kennedy added. "I respect that. I thank him for his service."

Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., argued Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Cassidy’s primary defeat was a direct result of the senator's 2021 vote to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial, saying Republicans who "try to destroy" Trump politically will face consequences from GOP voters.

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"There’s no room in this party to destroy his agenda or to destroy him and his family as a Republican," Graham said. "If you align with Democrats to stop his agenda like Massie does, you’re going to lose. If you align with Democrats to drive him out of office like Cassidy did, you’re going to lose."

Cassidy said in his concession speech to his supporters that "when you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn't turn out the way you want it to."

"But you don't pout, you don't whine. You don't claim the election was stolen…. You don't manufacture some excuse," Cassidy said in an apparent jab at Trump. "You thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you've had that privilege. And that's what I'm doing right now."

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and CJ Womack contributed to this report.