Cassidy warns GOP not to 'idolize one person,' doesn't mention Trump by name

Cassidy noted that Republicans have lost the House, the Senate and the presidency over the last four years, which had not occurred a single term since the Herbert Hoover administration.

By Landon Mion

Louisiana GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy on Sunday warned the Republican Party not to "idolize one person," in an apparent reference to Donald Trump without specifically naming the former president.

The senator's comments on CNN are the latest in a war of words between him and Trump that was ignited when Cassidy voted to convict in the Senate trial of Trump on an impeachment charge of inciting the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill.

"Political campaigns are about winning," Cassidy told CNN's "State of the Union." "Our agenda does not move forward unless we win. We need a candidate who can not only win himself or herself, but we also have to have someone who lifts all boats. And that's clearly not happened over the last four years."

He also pointed out that Republicans have lost the House, the Senate and the presidency over the last four years, which had not occurred in a single four-year term since the Herbert Hoover administration.

Cassidy said Republicans have to win in the 2022 midterm elections and the 2024 presidential election by "speaking to those issues that are important to the American people," as opposed to "putting one person on a pedestal and making that one person our focal point."

"If we idolize one person, we will lose," he said. "And that's kind of clear from the last election."

Cassidy's comments contrast sharply with the huge Trump support seen this past weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla.

However, Cassidy said that CPAC and its conservative leaders and follower are not the entirety of the Republican Party.