总统唐纳德·特朗普周六，在美国广播公司发布音频后，内布拉斯加州参议员本·萨斯在推特上抨击道华盛顿审查员向选民批评总统。
希拉里·斯威夫特/美联社
2020年10月14日，在华盛顿国会山参议院司法委员会面前，参议员本·萨斯在最高法院提名人艾米·科尼·巴雷特的确认听证会上发言。
特朗普在周六上午的一系列推特上称萨塞是“共和党的负担，也是伟大的内布拉斯加州的尴尬”，也是“最低效的”共和党参议员，他“真正不具备成为伟大的条件”。总统还建议共和党“应该找到一个新的更有活力的候选人”
总统的指责是在萨塞本周在与选民的电话中说总统与白人至上主义者“调情”并“亲吻独裁者的屁股”之后发生的。萨塞还警告说，特朗普正在损害共和党，并表示担心如果总统输掉选举选举，他会带着元老院一起走。
“本对内布拉斯加州人说了同样的话，他曾直接在椭圆形办公室反复对总统说。本专注于捍卫共和党参议院的多数席位，他不会在推特上浪费一分钟，”萨斯发言人詹姆斯·韦格曼在周六上午的一份声明中说。
总统还称萨斯为“小本”，并将萨斯与前参议员杰夫·弗雷克和鲍勃·科克相提并论批评总统决定不再竞选连任。总统建议萨塞，像科克和弗雷克一样，可以成为下一个“完全不能当选”的立法者，从政治中退休。
萨斯正在竞选连任，并与民主党对手克里斯·詹妮切克(Chris Janicek)竞选。在他向一名竞选工作人员发送色情短信后，詹妮切克面临批评和退出竞选的呼吁。
Trump blasts Sasse on Twitter over critical comments
PresidentDonald Trumpblasted Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse on Twitter on Saturday after audio was released by theWashington Examinerof Sasse criticizing the president to constituents.
Sen. Ben Sasse speaks during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Oct. 14, 2020.
Trump called Sasse a "liability to the Republican Party and an embarrassment to the Great State of Nebraska" as well as the "least effective" Republican senator who "truly doesn’t have what it takes to be great" in a series of tweets Saturday morning. The president also suggested that the Republican party "should find a new and more viable candidate."
The president’s rebuke came after Sasse said that the president “flirted” with white supremacists and “kisses dictators’ butts” in a phone call with constituents this week. Sasse also warned that Trump was damaging to the Republican party and voiced concern that if the president loses theelection, he’ll take the Senate with him.
“Ben said the same thing to Nebraskans that he has repeatedly said to the president directly in the Oval Office. Ben is focused on defending the Republican Senate majority, and he's not going to waste a single minute on tweets," Sasse spokesman James Wegmann said in a statement Saturday morning.
The president also referred to Sasse as "Little Ben" and compared Sasse to former Sens. Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, both of whomcriticized the presidentand decided not to run for reelection. The president suggested that Sasse, like Corker and Flake, could be the next "totally unelectable" legislator and retire from politics.
Sasse is up for reelection and is running against Democratic opponent Chris Janicek, who has faced criticism and calls to drop out after he sent sexually vulgar texts to a campaign staffer.
