Cassidy: GOP must build positive agenda, avoid 2020 quagmire

Sen. Bill Cassidy on Sunday said the Republican Party needs to quit squabbling over the 2020 election and build a positive agenda that contrasts the Biden administration’s fumbles if it wants to win in 2024.

Mr. Cassidy, Louisiana Republican, said fuming over the November results is futile.

“The broader question, frankly, is do Republicans continue to re-litigate 2020, or do we look to the forward, look forward with a positive agenda?” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “If we re-litigate 2020 over and over again, it won’t change the result in 2020, but we’re sure to lose in 2024. On the other hand, if we have a positive agenda, which addresses the fact that the Biden administration is in disarray — whether it’s inflation, the border, Afghanistan — then the country will win and we’ll win.”

Mr. Cassidy, who voted to convict former President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial over the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, was responding to questions about Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, an Ohio Republican who voted to impeach Mr. Trump and recently said he won’t seek reelection.

Mr. Trump relished Mr. Gonzalez’s decision and said there was “nine to go,” referring to other House Republicans who voted to impeach him.

Mr. Gonzalez, in a statement on his decision, called Mr. Trump a “cancer” for the country.

Asked if that is true, Mr. Cassidy tried to make a broader point about the GOP and why it needs to avoid getting dragged into the 2020 quagmire.

“He’s really speaking about the Republican Party. Politicians are not victims. Politicians make a choice,” Mr. Cassidy said. “If we choose to look forward, bringing positive solutions to the American people who have needs, we win. If we choose to be bullied, we lose.”

Mr. Cassidy said as his state regroups from Hurricane Ida, he can probably find plenty of constituents who are made about the last election.

However, “what they really feel strongly about is rebuilding their community and building the resiliency so that this doesn’t happen again,” he said. “Now if we meet that person’s needs, Republicans will do well in 2024, 2022. And if we don’t, they’ll look elsewhere. Let’s meet their needs.”