‘We’re not a cult’: GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy defends GOP leadership after the party’s poor performance in the 2022 midterms

• Sen. Bill Cassidy spoke up in protection of Republican leaders following disappointing midterm outcomes.
• Cassidy stated there’s not “one person who leads our party” except it is a sitting president.
• He stated he’ll proceed to assist Mitch McConnell however skirted the similar query about Donald Trump.

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy defended GOP leaders following disappointing midterm election outcomes, saying the get together is “not a cult.”

The Louisiana lawmaker advised NBC’s “Meet the Press” he’ll proceed to assist Mitch McConnell as Senate chief, although there could also be a “necessary debate about ideas” inside the get together. 

NBC’s Chuck Todd posed the query of whether or not sustaining assist for the similar GOP leaders – specifically McConnell, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, former President Donald Trump, and the RNC’s Ronna McDaniel – will create “a problem for Republicans going forward.” 

“First, we’re not a cult. We’re not like, ‘Okay, there’s one person who leads our party,'” Cassidy stated. “We are not going to have one person anointed unless she or he happens to be a sitting president. We should have a set of principles and ideas and legislative accomplishments that is our lodestar, if you will. That’s where we need to go.”

—Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 13, 2022

Cassidy added that Republicans have to “explain to the American voter why Republicans have a better vision for the future of our country” following disappointing midterm results for a GOP that was banking on a pink wave. 

Much of the criticism has been geared toward former President Donald Trump after a number of of his hand-selected candidates lost their races. Trump himself is expected to announce his candidacy for president on November 15. 

On “Meet the Press,” Todd requested Cassidy whether or not he would assist Trump as the GOP nominee in 2024 or whether or not he would cheer for a new candidate, similar to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

“Who is our next nominee will sort itself out,” Cassiday stated. “I think our next candidate will be looking to the future, not to the past, and I think our next candidate will win. And so I anticipate supporting a candidate who’s looking to the future.”

When Todd pressed Cassidy about supporting Trump particularly, the senator stated it was a “theoretical which actually I don’t think will come to transpire because we have to be looking to the future.”

“I will say we should be a party of ideas and principles. I welcome that,” Cassidy stated. “And I think our next candidate will similarly embody that perspective.”