Ben Sasse Has Literally Nothing to Say About Being Endorsed by Trump

By Naomi LaChance | September 12, 2019 | 3:20am

Congress

Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska who is running for reelection, reportedly had nothing to say on Wednesday about his recent endorsement from Donald Trump.

Sasse, who apparently only includes books written by white people in his “family canon,” is no longer criticizing Trump. He isn’t loudly applauding the president yet, but he doesn’t exactly need to.

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NBC News reporter Frank Thorp V asked Sasse to explain his change in mindset:

It just so happens that Sasse, according to an analysis of campaign finance data from research group MapLight, has taken major campaign contributions from GEO Group, the private prison company profiting off of migrant detention centers.

In March, GEO Group’s PAC gave Sasse $10,000. That same month, George Zoley, the CEO and founder of the company, gave Sasse $5,000.

Funny coincidence!

In August, when he announced he would seek reelection, Sasse described national politics in the most appealing terms possible: “what’s at stake in 2020 is a choice between civics and socialism.” Perfect, where can I sign?

Sasse has also had a bit of a writing career, giving us two presumably uplifting works entitled Them: Why We Hate Each Other—And How to Heal, and The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis—and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance. Sounds just like the kind of white guy who would turn around and welcome Trump when it becomes convenient. Was adulting not fun enough for him?

“This is Trump’s party now,” wrote Amber Phillips at the Washington Post. “Republicans who resist that largely lost their jobs or left.”