Whatever Ben Sasse’s considerations about accepting a position as the president of the University of Florida, I am reasonably certain that Donald Trump’s opinion was not one of them.
Trump of course has to troll and trash anything that comes within his sight and so he lashed out at Sasse. Sasse was one of seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment. Sasse called it a “vote of conscience.”
“In my first speech here in the Senate in November 2015, I promised to speak out when a president — even of my own party — exceeds his or her powers,” he said. “I cannot go back on my word, and Congress cannot lower our standards on such a grave matter, simply because it is politically convenient. I must vote to convict.”
He cited Trump’s repeated baseless claims that the election had been rigged against him.
“Those lies had consequences, endangering the life of the vice president and bringing us dangerously close to a bloody constitutional crisis. Each of these actions are violations of a president’s oath of office,” Sasse said.
Political situation: Sasse has spoken out against Trump in strong ways in recent months. In a call with constituents in October, Sasse worried out loud that Trump would bring down the Republican-controlled Senate in November.
And after blasting Trump’s election fraud claims, Sasse preempted a potential censure vote by the Nebraska GOP State Central Committee by releasing a video in which he maintained that “politics isn’t about the weird worship of one dude.”
Sasse handily won reelection in 2020 — getting almost 27,000 more votes than Trump in the Republican state — and won’t have to campaign again until 2026.
Well, he wouldn’t have had to campaign again until 2026, but that’s a moot point now. Here’s what Trumpty Dumpty had to say.
Two thoughts: 1) It’s a shame that Sasse resigned from the Senate. At least he was one of seven senators that had enough guts to do the right thing; 2) Isn’t it interesting how Trump jumped right into the middle of the situation, as the head of the Republican party? Maybe I should take out the word “interesting” and replace it with “disgusting.”
Well, Donald, I hear tell that Devin Nunes might be looking for a job soon? Maybe he should buy a few cows outside of Omaha and get going with that?
I don’t doubt that Trump is happy to see Sasse go. It’s just one more opportunity for him to put another MAGA monster in place in our government.
