“Politics is not about a guy’s weird worship,” said Sasse. “The party can purge Trump’s skeptics. But I would like to convince you that this civic cancer is not only for the nation, but also terrible for our party. “
A handful of renowned Republicans faced protests from their home states after Trump’s impeachment. The Arizona Republican Party voted to censor Cindy McCain, widow of Senator John McCain, and former Senator Jeff Flake, after both criticized Trump. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the third Republican in the House, faced rematch in Wyoming after she voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riots and Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Florida). even went to her home state to campaign against it for a crowd of over 800 people.
In his video statement, Sasse classified himself as a loyal conservative and differentiated between his constituents and members of the State Central Committee. He said that few Nebraska voters “are as angry with life as some of the people on this committee”
“Policy junkies do not represent the majority of Nebraska conservatives,” said Sasse.
The senator added that his criticisms of Trump after the riots were in line with his previous actions against Trump, including his refusal to vote for him in 2016 and 2020. He also said that the party’s anger against him was not about his ideology, noting that he is one of the most conservative members of the Senate. Instead, he said, his party was dissatisfied that he “did not bend his knees” to Trump.
Sasse also used the video to reiterate his disdain for Trump’s behavior between election day and his departure from office, when Trump continually spread false claims that the election was stolen from him. Sasse said the Capitol riot “happened because the president lied to you” and because Trump “angered a crowd that attacked the Capitol – many shouting ‘hang Pence’.”
“If that president were a Democrat, we would both know how you would respond,” said Sasse. “But, because he had a Republican behind his name, you are defending him.”
The censure motion is not the only one Sasse faces in the state. The Scotts Bluff County Republican Party indicated on Wednesday that it would act to censor Sasse and wrote an open letter condemning the senator after his members failed to contact him, according to The Scotts Bluff Star Herald.
Scotts Bluff County Party President Kolene Woodward told the Star Herald: “We are terribly frustrated that he is just ignoring us, so we thought if we put an open letter, maybe someone on his team would read it and inform him, we introduced a resolution for our statewide central committee meeting next weekend at the county level to censor it. “