Trump’s Grip on the GOP Holds

The Dispatch Podcast

The Dispatch

News, Politics

4.6 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Steve Hayes is joined by Kevin Williamson, Mike Warren, and David Drucker to discuss Donald Trump’s primary challenges against Sen. Bill Cassidy and Rep. Thomas Massie, along with last week’s U.S.-China summit in Beijing. The Agenda: —Sen. Cassidy’s loss —The consequences of crossing Trump —Texas Republican primary —Trump’s approach to China —Taiwan as a bargaining chip —NWYT: Trump’s $1.776 billion fund Dispatch Recommendations: —Will MAGA Come for Thomas Massie? —Democratic Efforts to Reclaim Blue-Collar Voters Get a Test in Pennsylvania —The Benefits of a Later School Bell —Cornfield Baptism Near Omaha, Nebraska The Dispatch Podcast is a production of ⁠The Dispatch⁠, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including audio versions of all our articles and newsletters—⁠click here⁠. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠by clicking here⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Dispatch Podcast. I'm Steve Hayes. On today's roundtable, we'll take a look at Senator Bill Cassidy's primary loss in Louisiana five years after he voted to impeach Donald Trump. And the president's challenge to Kentucky representative Thomas Massey, also a sometime Trump critic. Is Donald Trump. And the president's challenge to Kentucky Representative Thomas Massey, also a
0:22.8	sometime Trump critic. Is Donald Trump's grip on the Republican Party as strong as ever?
0:27.9	We'll also discuss the U.S.-China summit and its implications for Taiwan and in the long term for
0:34.1	the United States. And finally, not worth your time, Donald Trump's $1.776 billion
0:41.7	settlement out of the Department of Justice.
0:45.5	I'm joined today by my Disfatch colleagues,
0:47.4	Kevin Williamson, Mike Warren, and David Drucker.
0:50.7	Let's dive in.
1:08.0	Thank you. Let's dive in. Gentlemen, I want to start with the race in Louisiana over the weekend. Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican incumbent, lost in the Republican primary
1:14.7	there to two other Republican candidates. David Drucker, let me start with you. Why did Bill Cassidy
1:22.1	lose this primary? Because he crossed Trump, and there's one thing you cannot do in Republican politics right now,
1:29.1	and that is cross Trump. As I reported today in the dispatch, actually a really good idea from you.
1:35.3	It wasn't my idea. We took a look at the primary messages. What are Democratic primary voters hearing?
1:40.8	What do they want to hear? What are Republican primary voters hearing? What do they want to hear? And what Republican consultants told me, and it's something they've been telling me for
1:48.7	a while, and I just hadn't really featured it in a story, is that there are a number of ways
1:53.8	that you can burnish your image with Republican primary voters, and we're, of course, we're in the
1:58.5	midst of primary season. But the number one way to do
2:01.2	that is to tie yourself to Trump, to hug Trump as tightly as possible. And if you get the Trump
2:06.2	endorsement, I mean, it doesn't get any better than that. And it's just not any more complicated
2:11.1	than that, Steve. Yeah, I mean, especially in a very Trump favorable state like Louisiana.
2:16.9	You can certainly imagine that.
2:18.1	Look, Bill Cassidy voted to convict Donald Trump in the aftermath of January 6th.
	...

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