Sen. John Kennedy delivered another dose of his trademark Southern bluntness Sunday as he explained why fellow Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy failed to survive his Senate primary battle.
Cassidy officially missed the cutoff Saturday for Louisiana’s June 27 Republican runoff, finishing third behind Rep. Julia Letlow and Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming with just 25% of the vote.
Appearing on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing,” Kennedy said the outcome had been obvious for months.
“Unless you’re God’s perfect idiot, the result was predictable,” Kennedy told host Peter Doocy.
“Ground control to Major Tom, the polls have shown for well over a year that Senator Cassidy was in trouble.”
Kennedy said President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Letlow only accelerated Cassidy’s political collapse.
“I think the president’s endorsement of Congresswoman Letlow was sort of the icing on the cake,” Kennedy said.
“Bill knew that, but he decided to run anyway. I respect that. I thank him for his service, he was very gracious in his concession speech.”
The Louisiana senator declined to endorse either remaining candidate in the runoff, instead joking he planned to stay out of the fight unless things got personal.
“We now got a runoff between two fine people,” Kennedy said.
“A wise man once said nothing. Why? Because he’s a wise man.”
“But I don’t plan on weighing in, and, you know, if one of them starts talking about my mama, I might, otherwise I’m just going to vote like everybody else.”
Cassidy had long faced political headwinds among Louisiana conservatives after becoming one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump during the president’s second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The senator also drew criticism from many Trump allies over repeated clashes with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding vaccine policy and federal health oversight.
Kennedy acknowledged Trump’s backing played a decisive role in shaping the race.
“President Trump’s endorsement had a huge, huge impact — there’s no question about that,” Kennedy said.
“But there were other factors.”
“And, as I said, Bill’s been in trouble politically for over a year and he knew that.”
The result marks another major victory for Trump-backed Republicans as the president continues to exert enormous influence over GOP primaries heading into the 2026 midterm cycle.
Watch the clip below:
Senator John Kennedy just delivered a one-minute comedy routine when asked about what happened in his home state of Louisiana last night.
Kennedy is staying neutral in the runoff — unless someone brings up his “mama.”
DOOCY: “So what happened in Louisiana last night?”
KENNEDY:… pic.twitter.com/3zXRsctJgw
— Overton (@overton_news) May 17, 2026
