President Donald Trump does not take criticism well. This Monday, he lashed out against Nebraska’s Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who Trump mockingly referred to as a “RINO,” meaning “Republican in name only.” Although he didn’t even specify what exactly he was ranting about in his tweet, Trump seems to have wound himself up into a rage over a statement that Sasse released condemning what he called the “unconstitutional slop” of presidents — including Trump — attempting to essentially legislate via executive order. The statement came after Trump signed a series of executive orders attempting to bypass Congressional negotiations over Coronavirus relief.
Trump flipped out. Besides thanking Louisiana’s GOP Senator Bill Cassidy for his support of the executive orders, he tweeted about Sasse:
‘RINO Ben Sasse, who needed my support and endorsement in order to get the Republican nomination for Senate from the GREAT State of Nebraska, has, now that he’s got it (Thank you President T), gone rogue, again. This foolishness plays right into the hands of the Radical Left Dems!’
RINO Ben Sasse, who needed my support and endorsement in order to get the Republican nomination for Senate from the GREAT State of Nebraska, has, now that he’s got it (Thank you President T), gone rogue, again. This foolishness plays right into the hands of the Radical Left Dems!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
Thank you to Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana for his very smart words on the just signed Executive Orders!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
It’s definitely unclear that Sasse would have lost the Republican Senate primary in Nebraska without Trump’s endorsement. In fact, it appears to be laughable for Trump to suggest as much. Sasse got about 75 percent of the vote, with over 213,000 votes, while his challenger — someone named Matt Innis — got a little more than 70,000 votes. In other words, Sasse had a huge winning margin.
Trump’s original executive orders that sparked Sasse’s outrage included, among other things, a suspension of the payroll tax, which is set to take effect in September and run through the end of the year. It’s worth noting — this payroll tax suspension won’t even mean anything for the millions of Americans who aren’t on a payroll because they’re unemployed. Sasse said:
‘The pen-and-phone theory of executive lawmaking is unconstitutional slop. President Obama did not have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law with DACA, and President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law. Under the Constitution, that power belongs to the American people acting through their members of Congress.’
On Monday morning, Trump also insisted that the National Guard should be brought in to confront anti-police brutality protesters in Portland. Although there have been police/protester clashes elsewhere in the city, the Associated Press noted recently that “Clashes outside a U.S. courthouse in Portland, Oregon, have largely stopped since Democratic Gov. Kate Brown reached a deal that called for the draw down of federal agents sent by the Trump administration to protect the building.”
Portland, which is out of control, should finally, after almost 3 months, bring in the National Guard. The Mayor and Governor are putting people’s lives at risk. They will be held responsible. The Guard is ready to act immediately. The Courthouse is secured by Homeland!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response to Trump below:
