After four years of looking the other way and pretending not to read his tweets, a growing number of Republican senators are suddenly attempting to distance themselves from Donald Trump and rewrite history about their support for a president who, at least according to public polls, is likely headed for a big loss in next month’s election.
The epiphany some GOP senators are having just two weeks before Election Day may have less to do with their convictions and more about positioning themselves politically for a post-Trump world if the polls prove right and Joe Biden becomes president.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), an advocate of public decency who voted against Trump’s impeachment, offered the loudest critique of the president during a phone call with constituents last week. He said Trump has mishandled the coronavirus pandemic, curries favor with dictators, mistreats women, flirts with white supremacists and mocks evangelicals behind their backs.
The on-again, off-again Trump critic who has been discussed as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, warned of a “bloodbath” that could cost Republicans the Senate next year, adding, “that’s why I’ve never been on the Trump train.”
Sasse isn’t the only Republican who fears losing a Senate majority under a blowout Biden win. Vulnerable GOP incumbents have started speaking about that possibility in recent weeks and playing up their bipartisan credentials.
“The best check on a Biden presidency is for Republicans to have a majority in the Senate,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said earlier this month in an inter |
