Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse is deeply concerned about Donald Trump’s unrelenting campaign to marginalize mainstream media. Responding to Trump’s most recent tweets featuring the president beating up CNN in a wrestling skit, Sasse says he’s concerned that Trump is also beating up the First Amendment. Agreeing that there is always some “crappy” coverage by the media, Sasse contends that Trump’s relentless attacks by undermining “the right that citizens have to argue about that and complain about that.” He accused the president of trying to “weaponize distrust.” Sasse says Trump’s attacks are “not helpful” because a functioning democracy relies on the flow of information, the First Amendment being the “beating heart of the American experiment.”
Background. Sasse ran as the “anti Obamacare candidate” in 2014 and won, but the rookie Republican has had his Republican bona fides questioned since assuming office. Sasse has degrees from both Harvard and Yale, places frequently accused of indoctrinating students to a liberal way of thinking. (The current makeup of the Supreme Court, of course, would seem to present a counter to this thinking.) Even before Trump won the nomination, Sasse refused to support Trump’s candidacy, suggesting a third party alternative.
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