It's a "sorry state of affairs" that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are heading for a general election rematch, as people have reservations about both candidates, Sen. Bill Cassidy said Sunday.
"The best thing going for Donald Trump running for president is that he's running against Joe Biden, about whom many people also have reservations, and frankly, that's why people are considering third parties," the Louisiana Republican said on NBC News' "Meet the Press."
Cassidy said Sunday there are issues with how Trump refers to immigrants, saying that his rhetoric reflects "poorly" and that he speaks about them in a "dehumanizing fashion," which is giving voters even more reservations about his reelection.
Cassidy has not committed to endorsing Trump, but told host Kristen Welker that he would give her the same answer he has given consistently, that he plans to "vote for [the] Republican for the presidency of the United States."
He also pointed to Trump's Saturday campaign rally in Ohio and the comments he made there about a "bloodbath" if he's not reelected.
Trump's campaign clarified that the former president was speaking about the automobile industry, not political violence, but Cassidy said the general tone of the speech reflects why so many Americans are wondering why he should be reelected.
"That kind of rhetoric is on the edge and maybe it doesn't cross, and maybe it does, depending on your perspective," said Cassidy. "I think the mainstream media contributes to it. If you talk about a bloodbath, which could be an economic bloodbath and not street violence, it gives something that was distorted."
Trump, he added, "always walks up to the edge on the rhetoric and again, that's why people are concerned, but sometimes the mainstream media, whether they want to or not, can't resist and they go just a little bit too far which distracts from what could be the impact."
Meanwhile, the senator, one of just a few in his party who voted in favor of convicting Trump in his 2021 impeachment after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said Sunday the former president's promise to free those charged in the incidents is inappropriate.
"We are a nation of laws," he said. "Those folks were convicted, many times they pled guilty. If you plead guilty, obviously, you are not a patriot. You are someone who committed a criminal act. I think that would be a wrong signal if you're the chief executive and you are responsible for enforcing the laws."
Also on Sunday, Cassidy refused to answer what he called "hypothetical" questions about whether Trump would follow the Constitution if elected.
"All I can say is that we have checks and balances within our system, that if any one person attempts to act in an unconstitutional fashion, that they can be theoretically checked," he said. "I'll also point out that Joe Biden acted in an unconstitutional fashion when he attempted to forgive student loans, and it was stopped in the Supreme Court."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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