Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Sunday said he would support a 2024 Republican presidential candidate who is “looking to the future,” dodging a question on whether that candidate would be former President Trump.
Cassidy told NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd that “our party should be about the future,” especially after the GOP failed to meet projections of a red wave in the midterm elections.
“I think our next candidate will be looking to the future, not to the past, and I think our next candidate will win,” Cassidy said. “I anticipate supporting a candidate that is looking to the future.”
When asked if that candidate could be Trump, Cassidy said he was being posed a “theoretical” question.
“You’re giving me a theoretical, which actually I don’t think will come to transpire because we have to be looking to the future,” Cassidy said.
“I will say we should be a party of ideas and principles. I welcome that, I’ve tried to live my life that way, and I think our next candidate will similarly embody that perspective,” the Republican senator added.
Democrats outperformed expectations as the party is projected to capture the Senate and is looking as a very closely divided House, which has around 19 races yet to be called that will decide control of the lower chamber.
Cassidy on Sunday blamed Republican candidates aligned with Trump as the reason for the party’s losses, saying GOP nominees who looked to the future rather than the past performed better.
Trump backed Republican candidates in 2022 who supported his false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Cassidy on Sunday said the “next nominee will sort itself out” for the GOP in 2024 based on voter interests.
“But we have to appeal to those within our party and without our party if are going to win,” the senator said. “And they’re going to respond to a positive message which says, ‘This is how our ideas will make your life better.’ “
“Now, we should welcome that debate,” Cassidy added. “I try and live my life with principles and ideas. And if we do that then we will win.”