GOP Senator Claims He 'Regularly Considers' Leaving Republican Party
In a Saturday Twitter exchange, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse revealed that he “regularly considers” leaving the Republican Party behind.
Sasse — a Republican who has disagreed with President Donald Trump on multiple occasions — was asked whether he would consider following the example of a woman who switched from being a registered Democrat to having no party at all, according to The Hill.
“(Y)ep — regularly consider it,” Sasse tweeted, “(except the ‘from Dem’ part).”
yep — regularly consider it
(except the “from Dem” part) https://t.co/ZZCQKOPhL9— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) September 8, 2018
As in many discussions about the current and future state of the Republican Party, Trump was invoked as both a blessing and the bane of its existence.
“He is accelerating the trend, obviously. But it didn’t start two years ago. (Eg, you should check out the polling on the giant share of Democrats that believed George W. Bush knowingly concealed the 9/11 plot against America.),” Sasse tweeted.
He is accelerating the trend, obviously. But it didn’t start two years ago. (Eg, you should check out the polling on the giant share of Democrats that believed George W. Bush knowingly concealed the 9/11 plot against America.) https://t.co/tJPswgbO8d
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) September 8, 2018
The Twitter conversation had started when Sasse offered a pessimistic view of the midterm elections. “(W)e’re headed toward a place where hefty majorities of both sides of the electorate are going to regularly embrace unsupported and blatantly false assertions,” he wrote, according to Time.
Sasse this past week tried to stake the claim of being less focused on party issues than others in Washington.
“I’m not really sure why a lot of people around here make a lot of their decisions, but I think most people in both parties right now, their main long-term interest in Washington is their own incumbency. And, that’s not really what I’m that interested in,” Sasse told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” according to CBS.
“Most of the stuff I care about isn’t right vs. left. It’s past vs. future,” he said.
Saturday’s tweet was not the first time Sasse has put distance between himself and the GOP on social media.
“I’m sorta an independent conservative who caucuses with republicans,” he tweeted in March 2017.
I'm sorta an independent conservative who caucuses with republicans — these are the really funny folks… https://t.co/HheOBXzDxH
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) March 28, 2017
In a February 2016 Facebook post that denounced Trump’s candidacy, along with that of Hillary Clinton, Sasse said he felt a political party came second to the reasons it was formed.
“Now, let’s talk about political parties: parties are just tools to enact the things that we believe. Political parties are not families; they are not religions; they are not nations – they are often not even on the level of sports loyalties. They are just tools. I was not born Republican. I chose this party, for as long as it is useful,” he wrote.
“If our Party is no longer working for the things we believe in – like defending the sanctity of life, stopping ObamaCare, protecting the Second Amendment, etc. – then people of good conscience should stop supporting that party until it is reformed.”
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