Donald Trump celebrated the news that “lightweight” Nebraska Republican Ben Sasse is set to resign from the Senate.
Reports surfaced Thursday that Sasse, an outspoken “Never Trumper,” was set to resign from his seat by the end of the year and would be accepting a job as the president of the University of Florida.
Sasse shared an article that listed him as a “finalist” for the position with the college.
He wrote that he is “delighted to be in conversation with the leadership of this special community about how we might together build a vision for UF to be the nation’s most dynamic, bold, future-oriented university.”
The university named him the sole finalist, citing his “intellectual curiosity” and his abilities as a “gifted public servant.”
News: Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse plans to resign from the Senate by the end of the year to take a job as the president of the University of Florida, according to a source familiar with the deliberations.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 6, 2022
RELATED: Ben Sasse Joins List Of Anti-Trump Republicans Censured By Their Own Party
Trump Happy to Hear Ben Sasse Will Resign
Former President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social media platform to celebrate the “great news” that Senator Ben Sasse was poised to resign.
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As one would expect, he added amusing nicknames and insults to his celebratory posting.
“Great news for the United States Senate, and our Country itself,” Trump wrote. “Liddle’ Ben Sasse, the lightweight Senator from the great State of Nebraska, will be resigning.”
He went on to state that he is looking forward to working with a real Republican, which, in his mind, is somebody not so weak as to cave to Democrat impeachment circus trials.
“We have enough weak and ineffective RINOs in our midst,” Trump said. “I look forward to working with the terrific Republican Party of Nebraska to get a REAL Senator to represent the incredible People of that State, not another Fake RINO!”
Nobody with a functioning brain believes that Ben Sasse leaving the Senate early with his tail between his legs somehow hurts Trump. If anything, it shows there is no future in the GOP for sanctimonious, do-nothing scolds whose entire identity is hating Trump. https://t.co/hI9gFH4sqD
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 7, 2022
RELATED: Here Are the 6 Republicans Who Voted That Trump’s Impeachment Trial Is Constitutional
Voted to Impeach
Trump’s ire, as it often does, comes from the fact that Sasse was one of just seven Republican senators to vote to convict the former President after the House of Representatives impeached him for his alleged role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
Sasse argued that by telling protesters to peacefully make their voices heard, Trump had “disregarded his oath of office.”
Explaining his vote to impeach, the Nebraska Republican claimed Trump’s words in denying the election results “had consequences” and brought the country “dangerously close to a bloody constitutional crisis.”
But Sasse had walked far down the Never Trumper path by that point already.
Prior to the Capitol riot, in October of 2020, audio leaked of Sasse absolutely excoriating then-President Trump for allegedly selling out America’s allies and ‘flirting’ with white supremacists.
“The United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership, the way he treats women, spends like a drunken sailor,” he said when a constituent asked why he criticizes Trump so much.
In an audio call to his constituents, GOP Sen. Ben Sasse strongly criticized President Trump on an array of issues and said the President “kisses dictators’ butts” and has “flirted with White supremacists.” CNN’s @jaketapper and @mkraju discuss https://t.co/tbeUatHcvx pic.twitter.com/dEfsc35an6
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) October 15, 2020
“The ways I criticize President Obama for that kind of spending, I’ve criticized President Trump for as well,” Sasse added before listing off several reasons why he deserves scorn.
“He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. He’s flirted with white supremacists,” he said.
The comments were nearly indiscernible from even the most rabidly anti-Trump Democrats.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, will now be tasked with naming a temporary replacement for the Senate seat left behind when Ben Sasse resigns.
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