Senate Republican says Trump should drop out of presidential race

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said Sunday he thinks former President Trump should drop out of the 2024 presidential race. 

“I think so,” Cassidy said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” when asked whether Trump should drop out. “But obviously, that’s up to him. I mean, you’re just asking me my opinion, but he will lose to Joe Biden if you look at the current polls.”

“I’m a Republican. I think any Republican on that stage in Milwaukee will do a better job than Joe Biden. And so I want one of them to win,” Cassidy continued. “If former President Trump ends up getting the nomination, but cannot win a general, that means we’ll have four more years of policies … which I think have been deleterious to our country’s future.”

Cassidy — a Republican with a knack for working across the aisle and who was one of the seven GOP senators to vote for conviction in the second Trump impeachment trial — said he does not expect American voters to elect a convicted felon. 

He also said that, of the several indictments Trump faces, the case involving Trump’s mishandling and hoarding of national security information seems “almost a slam dunk.”

“If that is proven, then we may have a candidate for president who has been convicted of a crime,” he said. “I think Joe Biden needs to be replaced, but I don’t think Americans will vote for someone who’s been convicted. So I’m just very sorry about how all of this is playing out.”

Trump is by far the leading GOP presidential candidate in the 2024 race, with his legal troubles having little impact on support from Republican voters so far.

The first GOP presidential primary debate will be held Wednesday in Milwaukee, Wis. Trump has indicated he will not join, citing as primary reasons his high poll numbers and the fact that candidates are required to sign a pledge to back the eventual candidate — which Trump has said he will not do.