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Facing potential censure by Nebraska’s Republican Party, Sen. Ben Sasse is fighting back.
The conservative senator and vocal critic of former President Trump – who was overwhelmingly reelected in November to a second term in the Senate – charges that the moves by the Nebraska GOP are because he refuses to bend "the knee" and "worship" Trump, who remains very popular and influential with Republican voters.
SASSE SAYS QANON DESTROYING THE GOP
Sasse, who’s been censured by the state party in the past for not supporting Trump, is facing disciplinary action again for attacking Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to overturn his defeat in the presidential election at the hands of Joe Biden. They are also targeting him for decrying Trump’s encouragement of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right wing extremists and other Trump supporters who attempted to derail the congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, were killed during the insurrection.
The Nebraska GOP may pass a censure resolution when the Republican State Central Committee meets on Feb. 13. Two county GOP committees in Nebraska have already censured Sasse in recent days, with a third likely on Friday. One of the resolutions finds that Sasse "warrants and shall incur the penalty of CENSURE." More may follow in the coming days, and the state party would likely condense the various county censures into one resolution ahead of their meeting next weekend.
SASSE SAYS THERE IS 'BROKENNESS' IN TRUMP'S SOUL
In a video addressed to members of the central committee that was released Thursday, the senator said, "You are welcome to censure me again, but let’s be clear about why this is happening. It’s because I still believe, as you used to, that politics isn't about the weird worship of one dude."
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., is joined by his wife Melissa Sasse, as he take the oath of office from Vice President Mike Pence during a reenactment ceremony in the Old Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. (Pete Marovich/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
"Let's be clear: The anger in this state party has never been about me violating principle or abandoning conservative policy ‒ I'm one of the most conservative voters in the Senate ‒ the anger's always been simply about me not bending the knee to one guy," Sasse emphasized. "Personality cults aren’t conservative. Conspiracy theories aren’t conservative. Lying that an election has been stolen is not conservative. Acting like politics is a religion, it isn’t conservative."
Taking aim at Trump, Sasse stressed that "January 6th is going to leave a scar. For 220 years, one of the most beautiful things about America has been our peaceful transfer of power. But what Americans saw three weeks ago was ugly, shameful mob violence to disrupt a constitutionally mandated meeting of Congress to affirm that peaceful transfer of power. It happened because the president lied to you. He lied about the election results for 60 days."
Sasse cruised to reelection last year, setting records and outperforming Trump in Nebraska. He touted in his video that "Nebraskans just gave our campaign tens of thousands more votes than President Trump got in our state. It’s why our campaign just set all time vote count records in both the primary and general elections despite being primaried last year for not being Trumpy. All-time-most-votes for any candidate in Nebraska history."
President Trump waves after speaking at a campaign rally in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Nebraska’s one of just two states in the nation to split their electoral votes by congressional district. While Trump won the statewide vote, he lost to Biden in a congressional district that covers Omaha, the state’s largest city.
The Nebraska GOP told Fox News that they sent Sasse a letter inviting him to the Feb. 13 meeting to make his case. The party said that the senator replied that he would not be able to attend and then released his video.
A Republican strategist in Nebraska, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News that "the video speaks for itself," adding that the video’s "sort of a harsh response in my perspective and seems like it’s intended to inflame rather than to unify or moderate tensions."
CHENEY WON BIG IN DC, BUT STILL FACES POLITICAL PROBLEMS BACK IN WYOMING
Sasse was one of only five Republican senators ‒ out of the 50 in the chamber ‒ who last week voted with all 50 Democrats against a move by GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Trump ally, to declare the impeachment of a former president unconstitutional.
The clash over Sasse, who may have national ambitions in 2024, comes as other Republicans who’ve criticized Trump are also under fire.
The Wyoming GOP meets this weekend to likely censure Rep. Liz Cheney over her vote three weeks ago to impeach Trump. Only 10 House Republicans joined all 222 Democrats in the chamber in voting to impeach the then-president; 197 House Republicans voted against impeachment. While facing censure back home in Wyoming ‒ as well as primary challengers when she’s up for reelection next year ‒ Cheney easily beat back a move this week by Trump loyalists in Congress to strip her from her number three House GOP leadership position.
The Arizona GOP recently censured two-term Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who resisted calls by Trump to overturn Biden’s razor thin victory in the state in last November’s election.
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