Sen. John Kennedy says Trump had ‘huge impact’ in Louisiana Senate race

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Sunday that President Donald Trump’s “massive influence” on Republican politics is alive and well, pointing to the president’s support that helped shake up the Louisiana Senate race and unseat incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy.

“Unless you were God’s perfect fool, the outcome was predictable,” Kennedy told The Sunday Briefing.

“Polls have shown for over a year that Senator Cassidy is in trouble. [and] I think the President supports the Congressman [Julia] Letlow was kind of the icing on the cake. “Bill knew this but decided to run anyway, and I respect that,” he added.

Letlow and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming edge out Cassidy in Saturday’s election GOP primaryAccording to the Associated Press.

AFTER THE PURGE IN INDIANA, TRUMP OPENED LOUISIANA’S BILL CASSIDY

Letlow walked away with nearly 45 percent of the vote. Fleming followed with nearly 28%, while Cassidy came in third at just under 25%.

Letlow, who has represented the state’s fifth district since 2021, will advance to a runoff against Fleming as no candidate received 50 percent of the vote.

The winning side will face the winner of the Democratic Party runoff in November.

Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial five years ago, became a target of the president on Saturday morning, arguing that the senator was a “disloyal disaster” and “a dirty man, a terrible man who is bad for Louisiana.”

TRUMP TURNED HIS LOOKS TO BILL CASSIDY AND THOMAS MASSIE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES IN INDIANA

Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana punches a supporter during a campaign stop at a gun dealer and shooting range in Baton Rouge on May 15, on the eve of the state’s Senate primary. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Following Cassidy’s defeat, Trump returned to social media to bask in the senator’s impeachment, writing, “Good to see your political career is OVER!”

In his concession speech to voters, Cassidy appeared to take a thinly veiled jab at the president.

“When you participate in democracy, sometimes things don’t go the way you want, but you don’t sulk or whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen… You don’t make excuses,” he said.

“You thank the voters for the privilege of representing the state or the country for as long as you have that privilege. That’s what I’m doing right now.”

Although Trump’s endorsement of Letlow was among the reasons for speculation about her strong performance, Kennedy highlighted another reason voters may have made the choice.

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“My people were a little angry about the election, too. We’ve always…had open primaries, and our legislature went to closed primaries, and a lot of voters went to the polls this time and they weren’t allowed to vote for the candidate of their choice. They had to choose one of two primaries to vote, and there was a little bit of confusion in the election because the legislature postponed our congressional elections but went ahead with the Senate elections,” he said.

“President Trump’s endorsement made a huge impact. There’s no doubt about that, but there were other factors as well, and as I said, Bill had been in trouble politically for over a year and he knew it, and I don’t think anyone was surprised, especially after President Trump weighed in.”

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.