GOP Senator Cassidy NUKES Trump, RFK Jr, and Pulte

Bulwark Takes

Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy delivers a scathing critique of Trump, RFK Jr., and the current GOP leadership in a candid interview, condemning their policies on Iran, healthcare, intelligence appointments, an

Key takeaways

• Cassidy calls Trump's Iran deal a 'fig leaf' to exit war without victory.

Transcript preview

Hey it's Will Salitan from the bulwark. So do you ever wonder what Republican senators really think about Donald Trump? I mean, I'm not talking about, you know, the magahads that you see on TV. Talking about old-fashioned pre-Trump Republicans. Do they think, do they think it's okay that this idiot, this dirt bag is running their party? Well, today I'm going to show you what one of them thinks. Bill Cassidy, he's a Republican senator from Louisiana, and he's on his way out of Congress, so he's got nothing to lose. And on Sunday he did an hour-long interview on face the nation. And he said, he said what he really thinks about Trump. So let's roll the tape. All right, so the first topic was Iran. The Republican talking point on Iran is that we totally won the war and Iran is begging us. They're begging us for a deal. They are begging to make a deal, not me. That's not what Cassidy thinks. Here's what he said. at this point is perceived to have fought a superpower to a draw, requiring some measure of accommodation of we, the superpower. And we spent $29 billion and we have 13 Americans dead. We hope to get back to status quo ante. Ouch, he's right. When Cassidy talks about accommodation, he's talking about the fact that this deal that we signed with Iran makes all kinds of concessions like it commits us to help raise $300 billion dollars. for Iran and it lets Iran decide how to open the Strait of Hormuz. So that is not, that's not the kind of deal that you sign with somebody you just defeated in a war, right? It's a fig leaf to let us get out of a war like we got out of Vietnam. And did you hear what Cassidy said at the end? The part about how we hope to get back to the status quo ante? So in case you're not aware, that's Latin for saying that when the war is over we'll be lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky, we're very lucky. to get back to where we started before the war. Okay next topic affordability. So the interviewer Margaret Brennan brought up Trump's decision to block a bill that would have helped more people afford housing. He canceled that event on the bipartisan housing bill which had strong support from both sides of the aisle. It was aimed at least at affordability. And Cassidy's answer was basically that Trump doesn't really care about a Clearly he wants to say that passed. So you say that is a priority. What I think should be the priority is how do you make life more affordable for the American people? If I were president I'd be focused on things differently. If I were president I'd be focused on what that family around the kitchen table is looking at as they go through their bills. If I were president, says Cassidy, meaning the guy who actually is president, Trump, he has other priorities and those priorities are not making life more affordable. for Americans. So then Brennan asked about Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte. Bill Pulte is a totally corrupt political hitman and Trump is appointing him as director of national intelligence and Cassidy said no way no way he said this guy should not have that job. My objection to Bill is