The Senator the mRNA Industry Built
Segment #880
Why Louisiana Republicans Should End Bill Cassidy’s Senate Career on May 16
Dr. Robert W. Malone | substack.comMay 2, 2026 (rewritten and condensed)
CNN's Jake Tapper speaks with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who is a medical doctor, on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent changes to the CDC website, Affordable Care Act reform and vaccine safety.
Two weeks from now, on May 16, 2026, Louisiana Republicans will vote in a closed primary that has become the single most consequential intra-party election of the second Trump term. Senator Bill Cassidy, who has held the seat since 2015, is fighting for his political life against three challengers:
Congresswoman Julia Letlow: Carries President Trump’s "complete and total" endorsement and the endorsement of Governor Jeff Landry.
State Treasurer John Fleming: Former congressman.
Mark Spencer.
The most recent Emerson College poll, released April 26, shows Fleming at 28%, Letlow at 27%, and Cassidy at 21%. With 22% of voters remaining undecided, the senator’s path to the runoff is narrow and getting narrower.
Recent Legal Developments
A development from the past 72 hours bears registration before the substantive argument begins. On April 29, 2026, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that the state’s current congressional map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
The following day, Governor Landry signed an Executive Order suspending the closed-party primaries for U.S. House races only until July 15, 2026, or until the Legislature redraws the maps. Secretary of State Nancy Landry confirmed that all other races—including the Senate primary on May 16—will proceed as scheduled.
Senator Cassidy’s public reaction was telling. Within hours, he posted on X:
“The governor’s decision to move ahead with the Senate race during a confusing time is disappointing.”
It is unusual for an incumbent to object to a governor proceeding with a primary on its original date. The reason is straightforward: Cassidy is running third, and a delay would have given him weeks to consolidate support and shift national press attention.
The Deeper Story: MAHA and the mRNA Industry
While most coverage focuses on Cassidy’s 2021 vote to convict Donald Trump, the deeper story involves the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement. Bill Cassidy is the senator most directly responsible for the institutional containment of Secretary Kennedy’s agenda.
He is the senator the mRNA industry’s principal lobbying organization has been engaging with since July 2023. In February 2026, using his Senate HELP Committee chairmanship, he publicly confronted NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya over mRNA grant terminations ordered by the HHS Secretary.
The Cassidy Confirmation Conditions
The story begins on February 13, 2025, when Cassidy cast the deciding vote (52-48) to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of HHS. His "yes" was conditioned on a series of promises, including:
Maintaining the existing CDC vaccine schedule.
Preserving the current Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
Seeking Senate input for changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
These conditions were structured to preserve the pre-2025 status quo—the very system the MAHA movement was elected to reform.
The Alliance for mRNA Medicines (AMM)
In November 2023, the Alliance for mRNA Medicines (AMM) was registered. It exists to lobby for the platform’s regulatory insulation. AMM held meetings with Cassidy as early as July 2023.
Since the Kennedy confirmation, AMM’s membership has grown to over 100, including Moderna and Merck. Throughout this period, Cassidy has used his chairmanship to challenge Kennedy’s HHS at every major decision point:
September 2025: Opposed ending the universal Hepatitis B recommendation for newborns.
November 2025: Challenged the FDA’s findings on pediatric VAERS deaths.
February 2026: Confronted the NIH over $500 million in canceled mRNA contracts.
The May 16 Choice
President Trump endorsed Julia Letlow on January 17, 2026, calling her a "TOTAL WINNER." Letlow has consistently supported the Trump administration and the MAHA agenda.
While State Treasurer John Fleming has conservative credentials, splitting the anti-Cassidy vote risks allowing the senator to survive into a runoff. A vote for Letlow is the clearest signal that Louisiana Republicans want a senator aligned with the MAHA agenda rather than the industry incumbents.
Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) speaks on the House floor about a bill creating a Covid history program, after she sponsored the bill following her husband's death to the disease.
Robert W. Malone, MD, MSAuthor of "The Chronic Rebellion: How American Parents Built the MAHA Movement Out of Their Children’s Illness" (Forthcoming 2026).
Note for Louisiana Readers: I will be speaking in Baton Rouge on Monday, May 11, 2026, at the City Club (6:00–8:00 PM) for the event "Champions of Change: How Policy Really Gets Made." I will join Noah Wall to discuss the institutional networks that shape law at both federal and state levels. Visit newlouisiana.org for tickets.