Trump hits back at Republican senator after criticism

Donald Trump has hit back at a Republican senator who said the United States president “flirted with white supremacists”, treats the presidency like a “business opportunity”, and “kisses dictators’ butts”. Ben Sasse, a senator from the state of Nebraska and one of the few Republicans to regularly criticise Trump, made the comments last week during a teleconference with constituents. He also criticised the president for not initially taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously. On Saturday, Trump fired back, calling Sasse the “least effective of our 53 Republican Senators, and a person who truly doesn’t have what it takes to be great”. Sasse “was as nice as a RINO can be until he recently won the Republican nomination to run for a second term”, Trump tweeted, referring to the senator as a Republican In Name Only, a derogatory label among conservatives. “Then he went back to his rather stupid and obnoxious ways. Must feel he can’t lose to a Dem. Little Ben is a liability to the Republican Party, and an embarrassment to the Great State of Nebraska. Other than that, he’s just a wonderful guy!” Trump wrote. The harsh words elicited little response from Sasse, whose spokesman told USA Today the Senator, who is seeking a second term in the US Senate, is “not going to waste a single minute on tweets”. Fears of Republican losses While several high-profile Republicans initially opposed Trump’s presidency in 2016 in what was then dubbed the “never-Trump” movement, some of those early critics, including House Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, have become close allies of the president. However, some Republicans running for re-election this year have sought to distance themselves from Trump, fearing his divisive style and apparent mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic may hurt them at the polls. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">