Sen. Ben Sasse unleashed some harsh words for his Republican congressional colleagues planning to object to the acceptance of the Electoral College results on Jan. 6, a last-ditch effort to overturn the results of the presidential election in favor of President Trump.
In an over 2,200-word Facebook post on Wednesday night addressing voter fraud allegations and planned objections from Republicans, the Nebraska senator and potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate took aim at his fellow Republicans without naming them.
“When we talk in private, I haven’t heard a single Congressional Republican allege that the election results were fraudulent — not one. Instead, I hear them talk about their worries about how they will ‘look’ to President Trump’s most ardent supporters,” Sasse said.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley announced Wednesday that he plans to object to accepting Electoral College results that would make Joe Biden president on Jan. 20. He is the first senator to say that he will join House Republicans who plan to raise the objection, led by Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks. Because of Hawley’s decision to object, the Senate and House will hold a two-hour debate over the Electoral College results and then vote to either accept or reject them.
“Let’s be clear what is happening here: We have a bunch of ambitious politicians who think there’s a quick way to tap into the president’s populist base without doing any real, long-term damage. But they’re wrong — and this issue is bigger than anyone’s personal ambitions. Adults don’t point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government,” Sasse said.
Noting that lawyers for Trump challenging election results in court did not allege massive voter fraud in the same way that Trump and his allies have alleged in public statements, Sasse said: “Here’s the heart of this whole thing: this isn’t really a legal strategy — it’s a fundraising strategy.”
Sasse also revealed that he wrote in Vice President Mike Pence’s name for president in 2020, as he did in 2016, rather than vote for Trump.
“America has always been fertile soil for groupthink, conspiracy theories, and showmanship. But Americans have common sense. We know up from down, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We need that common sense if we’re going to rebuild trust,” Sasse said.
