Ben Sasse tells off fellow Nebraska Republicans who are attacking him for ‘not bending the knee’ to Trump
05 February 2021
Although Sen. Ben Sasse is decidedly conservative, he committed a cardinal sin in the minds of many fellow Republicans when, in November and December, he acknowledged Joe Biden as president-elect and slammed then-President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. The Nebraska GOP has advanced a censure resolution against him, and Sasse has addressed that resolution in a five-minute video — stressing that it's ridiculous to make 100% loyalty to Trump a litmus test for conservatives and stressing that Republicans can, in fact, disagree with Trump and still be conservative.
In the video, Sasse declares, "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 has always been simply about me not bending the knee to one guy. But my disagreements with President Trump have never been personal; they've always been about genuine affection for the constitutional order — something every American, regardless of party, should share."
Following the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol Building, Trump was impeached for incitement to insurrection by the U.S. House of Representatives. It's unlikely that Trump will be convicted in his forthcoming impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate — most Senate Republicans are terrified of offending the former president. But Sasse, like Sen. Mitt Romney, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins, is among the Senate Republicans who is at least open to the possibility of voting "guilty."
In the video, Sasse laments, "January 6 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 the Congress to affirm that peaceful transfer of power. It happened because the president lied to you. He lied to you about the election results for 60 days despite losing 60 straight court challenges — many of them handed down by wonderful Trump-appointed judges."
The senator continues, "He lied by saying the vice president (Mike Pence), could just violate his constitutional oath and declare a new winner. That wasn't true. He then riled a mob that attacked the Capitol, many chanting, 'Hang Pence.' If that president were a Democrat, we both know how you'd respond. But because he had Republican behind his name, you're defending him."
Watch the video below: