Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., confronted talk show host Sean Hannity this week over the cable new host’s support for casino tycoon Donald Trump, but the lawmaker failed to make a big impression as the cable news host failed to recognize his critic.
The moment occurred Thursday as Sasse confronted Hannity over the claim that anyone who votes against Trump is basically voting for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Sasse said on social media last week, “If Trump becomes the Republican nominee my expectation is that I’ll look for some 3rd candidate – a conservative option, a Constitutionalist.”
Hannity and others quickly took this to mean that Sasse more or less supported Clinton in the race for the White House. But the first-term senator sees this as an unfair characterization of the issue, and confronted the longtime cable news host Thrusday over the issue.
Unfortunately for Sasse, his remarks didn’t land with as much punch as intended due to the fact Hannity, a political commentator, didn’t recognize the U.S. senator.
Talk radio host personality Glenn Beck described the scene at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland: “After the show Sean came by, took some pictures with our mutual fans and then asked if we could have a few minutes together. I, of course, said sure. We sat behind the staging away from the crowd.”
“He began to talk about Trump and my feelings about him. It is no secret that he supports and believes in Trump (he also likes Rubio and Cruz). He also knows that I have endorsed [Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas] and feel Trump is liberal, progressive, dishonest, and in it for himself.”
This is when things took a turn, according to Beck.
“As we began a friendly but frank conversation, Ben Sasse came around the corner. He said to Sean in no uncertain terms that what Sean was doing was bullcrap. This came as a surprise to both of us as we didn’t see Ben approach,” Beck said.
“It took Sean off guard and he asked who the man was. He didn’t recognize the senator. Ben introduced himself and it was awkward for a couple of minutes. Ben explained that many from his state were telling him that Sean had said that he was voting for Hillary. Sean responded by saying he never said that, but he did confirm that he said it was half a vote for Hillary,” he added.
