Trump Cultists Cry Betrayal, page-52

Here's another Republican Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) belatedly speaking out on Hugh Hewitt's RW talk show.

(I've kept the copy/paste to a minimum; just highlights)

"Senator Ben Sasse On Impeachment and Transition, the GOP in Minority

HH: What is your assessment of the President’s intention and his culpability for the insurrectionists and the rioters breaking into the Capitol and murdering a Capitol Policeman?

BS: While blood was actually being shed in the Capitol, and I was in the Senate chamber, and the Secret Service was trying to rush the Vice President to safety, at those exact moments, the President is rage tweeting against the Vice President. Why? Because Mike, because Vice President Pence had the audacity to fulfill his oath of office to the Constitution. It’s a big deal. Lies have consequences."

"HH: Do you think he intended the mob to break into the Congress?

BS: You are right that I am not a lawyer, so there probably are 15 sub-definitions of incite. But the President had a rally hours before this happened where he is telling them to go to the Capitol and to go wild. This is a part of a pattern. The guy is addicted to division. This is a deep brokenness in his soul. You and I have talked about it multiple times. Donald Trump is a guy who hurts. And I hurt for him at an anthropological and a human level, but at a level of his oath of office to the Constitution, the duty of the president of the United States is to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. And the President is addicted to social media and to television, and to division, and he’s been lying to the American people for eight straight weeks and planned it long before. No matter what was happening in any state, he was going to say the election was being stolen, and the people needed to rise up. "

"HH: Do you think he intended for the riot and the occupation, the insurrection to happen?

BS: I think Donald Trump wanted there to be massive divisions, and he was telling people there was a path by which he was going to stay in office after January 20th. That was never true. And he wanted chaos on television. I don’t have any idea what was in his heart about what he wanted to happen once they were in the Capitol, but he wanted there to be chaos, and I’m sure you’ve also had conversations with other senior White House officials, as I have."

"HH: So I have to close, though, Senator, by asking you about this cycle which began in 2016 with cable’s wall to wall coverage of the President

BS: So all that you said is true, Hugh. I agree with all of it, and yet we should also recognize that the amount of, the number of Americans that are paying attention to the stories that are on cable every day, less than 14%. Less than 14% of the American people are watching politics on a daily basis. 86% of our neighbors say I don’t want that crap to be the center of my consciousness."

https://hughhewitt.com/senator-ben-sasse-on-impeachment-and-transition-the-gop-in-minority/