Republican Sen. Ben Sasse: Trump 'kisses dictators’ butts' and 'flirted with white supremacists'

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse has heavily criticized President Donald Trump during a call with constituents. Sasse said that Trump has "flirted with White supremacists" and "kisses dictators' butts" in comments confirmed by the Senator's office.

"The way he kisses dictators' butts. I mean, the way he ignores that the Uyghurs are in literal concentration camps in Xinjiang right now. He hasn't lifted a finger on behalf of the Hong Kongers," Sasse told a constituent who asked why the senator criticized President Trump so much.

"The United States now regularly sells out our allies under his leadership. The way he treats women and spends like a drunken sailor. The ways I criticized President (Barack) Obama for that kind of spending I've criticized President Trump for as well. He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. He's flirted with White supremacists," he continued.

Sasse went on to warn that young people could become "permanent Democrats" because of President Trump's "stupid political obsessions."

"If young people become permanent Democrats because they've just been repulsed by the obsessive nature of our politics, or if women who were willing to still vote with the Republican Party in 2016 decide that they need to turn away from this party permanently in the future, the debate is not going to be, you know, 'Ben Sasse, why were you so mean to Donald Trump?' " he said. "It's going to be 'What the heck were any of us thinking that selling a TV-obsessed narcissistic individual to the American people was a good idea?' It is not a good idea."

The Senator also slammed President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The reality is that he careened from curb to curb. First, he ignored Covid. And then he went into full economic shutdown mode. He was the one who said 10 to 14 days of shutdown would fix this, and that was always wrong," he said. "So I don't think the way he's led through Covid has been reasonable or responsible or right."

Sen. Sasse vowed to leave the Republican part in 2016 if Trump became the party's nominee for president.

“Let’s first recognize that the Republican Party is just a tool, as all political parties are,” he told MSNBC. “I signed up for the party of Abraham Lincoln, not the party of David Duke, Donald Trump. I hope it happens over the course of the next 30 to 60 days that the Republican Party again becomes the party of Abraham Lincoln, limited government and great human potential. I want to celebrate what’s great about America in the Republican Party, but if the Republican Party becomes the party of David Duke, Donald Trump, I’m out.”

Commenting on his latest remarks, Sen. Sasse's spokesperson said that Sasse was concerned about losing the Senate.

"I don't know how many more times we can shout this: Even though the Beltway is obsessing exclusively about the presidential race, control of the Senate is ten times more important," he said. "The fragile Senate seats that will determine whether Democrats nuke the Senate are the races Ben cares about, the races he's working on, and the only races he's talking about."