Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse sets down with the World-Herald for a wide ranging conversation.
Sarpy County Republicans have joined in the effort to censure U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse for criticizing former President Donald Trump.
The local Republican Party in Nebraska’s most populous GOP-leaning county voted 2-1 on Thursday to join Republicans from Scotts Bluff and Hitchcock Counties in expressing displeasure with Sasse over his critiques of Trump.
Papillion resident Robert Anthony attended the Sarpy meeting via Zoom and voted for censure. He said he’s tired of the disconnect between the beliefs of “liberty-loving” Republicans, and some who make it to Washington, D.C.
He and other Republicans said they were upset at Sasse for what they saw as Sasse’s opportunistic support for the Republican president during Sasse’s GOP primary, followed by the senator’s renewed criticisms of Trump after he defeated primary opponent Matt Innis, a staunch Trump supporter.
“Sasse says he’s just here to defend the Constitution, but Sarpy Republicans feel like people are trampling on the Constitution all the time,” Anthony said.
Gov. Pete Ricketts, during his coronavirus press briefing on Friday, said he has heard frustrations from a lot of Nebraska Republicans and urged them to reach out to Sasse and his office. But he defended Sasse’s voting record as one of the most conservative in the Senate.
Sarpy Republicans said they object to Sasse’s statements blaming Trump for riling up a crowd of supporters before they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, while Congress was certifying President Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.
Trump and his legal team spent months contesting election results from key swing states in a failed attempt to keep those results from being certified.
Sasse criticized those efforts, noting that Trump’s legal team had tried and failed 60 times to persuade judges, even Trump appointees, that they had sufficient evidence to back their claims of widespread election fraud.
Sasse, in a video released Thursday, defended his statements about Trump as truthful.
“Personality cults aren’t conservative, conspiracy theories aren’t conservative, lying that an election has been stolen isn’t conservative, acting like politics is a religion isn’t conservative,” Sasse said.
The timing and tone of Sasse’s video statement upset Sarpy partisans who are worried about the party looking divided.
Sarpy’s censure proposal focused largely on what it described as Sasse’s “character attacks” on Trump, including the senator calling out some of Trump’s statements as lies and describing some of his actions as “wicked.”
The censure language also says that a majority of Republicans believe Trump would have won in key swing states if not for “tainted” results that were the product of “illegal and unconstitutional election law changes and organized Democrat Party fraud.”
Similar censure proposals have been sent to the Nebraska Republican Party by members of the party’s State Central Committee, which will discuss and vote on formally censuring Sasse when it meets Feb. 13 in Columbus.
Christian Mirch, chair of the Douglas County Republican Party, said Friday that it has not received a motion to censure Sasse.
“Instead, the DCRP is focused on moving forward as a unified party, with an eye toward our shared conservative values,” Mirch said.
World-Herald Staff Writer Connie White contributed to this report.
Our best Omaha staff photos of February 2021
Our best Omaha staff photos of February 2021
Kearney's Richard Harbols dives in the boys Nebraska state dive competition on Thursday.
Lincoln Southeast's Katerina Hoffman competes in the NSAA state diving championship on Thursday.
North Platte's Jonathan Brouillette is reflected in the swimming pool as he competes in the NSAA boys state diving championship on Thursday.
An ice jam forms on the Platte River west of the Highway 77 bridge near Fremont on Monday. Observers in eastern Nebraska will be looking out for signs of flooding as the weather warms up. “We’re just waiting to see how the snow will melt over the next couple of days,” said hydrologist David Pearson of the National Weather Service office in Valley. “We’ll be watching closely.”
Omaha Skutt's Adam Kruse, left, and Gothenberg's Abe Mendez, right, wrestle during a Class B 138 pound match.
Millard South's Joel Adams celebrates after defeating North Platte's Darian Diaz during the Class A 138 pound championship match.
A few snowflakes fell in Omaha on Wednesday.
Creighton's Greg McDermott congratulates Denzel Mahoney on a made 3-pointer against Villanova.
Gretna's John Weed, facing, and Millard South's Antrell Taylor compete in the first round of the 160 pound, Class A state wrestling tournament in Omaha on Wednesday.
Frost collects on a sheet of ice in a parking lot in South Omaha on Tuesday. Omaha set a record low on Tuesday, dipping to 23 degrees below zero.
PJ Smith, an administrator at Grand Island Northwest, helps set up mats on Tuesday for the state wrestling tournament at the CHI Health Center. The tournament starts today and runs through Saturday. Read more in Sports.
Dr. Michael Howard listens to the heart of Bella, a Boston terrier puppy at Best Care Pet Hospital In Omaha on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. Bella was anesthetized before power was cut to the south Omaha neighborhood where they are located because of extreme temperatures in the region. Omaha's low Dr. Howard was prepping to spay Bella by window light before the power did come back on. They had performed one surgery with no power already that morning.
Neymar walks around in a sweater after a power outage at Best Care Pet Hospital at 3030 L Street on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. Extreme temperatures forces rolling blackouts in the area.
Sunlight filters through the steam as cars head east on Leavenworth Street towards 16th Street as the low in the area was close to 20 degrees below zero on Tuesday, February 16, 2021.
Steam rises out of the Missouri River around the Interstate 480 bridge as viewed from Tom Hanafan River's Edge Park in Council Bluffs early Tuesday, Feb. 16. Lows in the Omaha metro area were around 23 degrees below zero. The steam caused icy roads and the temporary closure of the bridge.
Owner Gary Wrenn moves catfish filets from the cornmeal dredge to the fryers at Cajun Kitchen on 30th and Maple Streets in Omaha on Monday.
Firefighters work to put out a fire in an apartment building at 10th and William Street in Omaha on Monday.
Omaha's Matt Miller (27) moves behind the net, near Colorado College's Matthew Gleason (15), Brian Hawkinson (29) and Matt Vernon (30) in the Colorado College vs. Omaha hockey game at the Baxter Arena in Omaha on Friday. The Mavericks won the game 7-1.
Erin Gramke gives Sigurd Sorenson his second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the VA Medical Center in Omaha on Thursday. Sorenson, 84, served in the Army.
Rev. Ralph Lassiter sits inside Kohl's Pharmacy during the observation period after his second COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. Rev. Lassiter wants to set a good example for his community by receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and stressing its' safety.
The Bellevue West bench celebrates a three-pointer in the Waukee vs. Bellevue West boys basketball game on Tuesday. Bellevue West won the game 74-60.
Hand-painted bonbons for a Valentine's Day special are flavored with, from left, raspberry, passion fruit, vanilla bean salted caramel and milk chocolate, from Sugar Makery BitterSweet in Council Bluffs.
A Gibson Les Paul is one of more than 70 guitars in the exhibit.
A crane lifts a small plane that had its landing gear collapse while landing at Eppley Airfield on Friday. Two people were on board the plane; neither was injured.
Creighton's Damien Jefferson is called for a foul against Georgetown's Jamorko Pickett at CHI HealthCenter on Wednesday, February 03, 2021.
Avante Dickerson talks to members of the media after he announced he was signing to play football at the University of Oregon at Omaha Westside High School on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
Rime ice forms on the trees at the Chalco Hills Recreation Area on Tuesday, February 02, 2021.
Two people jog around Prairie Queen Recreation Area as a freezing fog covers the region on Tuesday, February 02, 2021.
Frost hangs onto a fence in Omaha on Tuesday, February 02, 2021.
aaron.sanderford@owh.com, 402-444-1135, twitter.com/asanderford
