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Senator Bill Cassidy, one of seven Senate Republicans who voted
to convict Trump at the former president's second impeachment
trial in 2021, described a federal documents case against Trump
as "almost a slam dunk" and warned that voters would not elect
someone convicted of a crime as president.
Asked if Trump should drop out of the presidential race, the
Louisiana Republican told CNN's "State of the Union" program: "I
think so. 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."
Cassidy, a Republican known for his bipartisan dealings, played
a leading role in crafting a $1 trillion infrastructure bill in
2021.
Trump is the leading Republican presidential candidate despite
mounting legal woes that include four criminal indictments, one
of which involves his handling of U.S. classified documents
after he left the White House in 2021.
"We may have a candidate for president who has been convicted of
a crime. 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 this is playing out," Cassidy
said.
In the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll released this month, Trump
held 47% of the Republican vote nationally, with Florida
Governor Ron DeSantis dropping six percentage points from July
down to just 13%. None of the other candidates due to attend the
first party primary debate on Wednesday have broken out of
single digits.
Trump is expected to skip the debate and instead sit for an
online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Mary Milliken and Mark
Porter)
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