In February 2025, GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana ignored his own values and deeply held beliefs to vote to confirm anti-vaxx lunatic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services—all to appease President Donald Trump.

Cassidy—a doctor by trade who supports vaccines—ignored all of the evidence before him to vote to put Kennedy in charge of HHS. It was a decision that proved devastating for the fate of vaccines and the eradication of preventable illness in the United States. 

So why did he do it? Well, in the hope that Trump would help him avoid a career-ending primary challenge when he’s up for reelection this year.

But Cassidy was not rewarded for his actions.

Instead, Trump endorsed his primary opponent, potentially sealing Cassidy's fate as a soon-to-be loser.

"Highly Respected America First Congresswoman, Julia Letlow, of the wonderful State of Louisiana, is a Great Star, has been from the very beginning, and only gets better! I am hearing that Julia is considering launching her Campaign for the United States Senate in Louisiana, a place I love and WON BIG, six times, including Primaries, in 2016, 2020, and 2024!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Jan. 17. “Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!" 

Letlow—who is only in the House because her husband died of COVID-19 before he could get the vaccine that Kennedy is against—did, indeed, announce her bid for Senate on Tuesday. 

In response, Cassidy wrote on X that he is not only going to run for reelection, but that he is going to win.

"Congresswoman Letlow called me this morning to say she was running. She said she respected me and that I had done a good job. I will continue to do a good job when I win re-election," Cassidy wrote. "I am a conservative who wakes up every morning thinking about how to make Louisiana and the United States a better place to live."

But despite his defiance, Cassidy is now clearly the underdog.

Not only did Cassidy vote to convict Trump in the 2021 impeachment trial, but he’s also continued to evangelize about the benefits of vaccines—which his state does not support. 

Cassidy has also condemned Kennedy’s anti-vaxx policies, criticism that is too little too late. And now that there’s a Trump-backed alternative in the race, Cassidy's fate feels all but sealed.

Ironically, since his first campaign, Trump loved to read lyrics from Al Wilson’s song, "The Snake."

"I saved you," cried that woman

"And you've bit me even, why?

And you know your bite is poisonous and now I'm gonna die"

"Oh shut up, silly woman," said that reptile with a grin

"You knew damn well I was a snake before you brought me in."

In Trump's understanding of the lyrics, the snake represents refugees from which he would protect Americans. But for Cassidy—and for Trump voters who expected him to care about anything but himself—Trump himself has turned out to be the snake.

GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, another Trump sycophant, also found that out when Trump chose not to endorse him in his reelection battle against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. 

Ultimately, my hope for Cassidy is that he gets an early retirement haunted by his role in bringing back preventable illnesses.