Anti-Trump Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) tendered his resignation officially on Monday and now stands to take the helm as the president of the University of Florida as he returns to his previous vocation as a university administrator.
As reported by Timcast, Sasse was president of Midland University before his 2014 election to the U.S. Senate. In December, the Nebraska Republican, who set himself firmly against the agenda of former President Donald Trump and the America-First GOP, officially announced his upcoming resignation in December.
In a tweet from his personal account on Nov. 9th, Sasse wrote, “thrilled to join Gator Nation in February — very excited about the work ahead. Melissa and I have had the great honor of serving Nebraskans in the Senate these 8 yrs — I will finish out the upcoming lame-duck session and resign in the first week of January”
thrilled to join Gator Nation in February — very excited about the work ahead. Melissa and I have had the great honor of serving Nebraskans in the Senate these 8 yrs — I will finish out the upcoming lameduck session and resign in the first week of January https://t.co/W4mS5hnTR9
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) November 9, 2022
In a statement when he became a finalist for the position, Sasse wrote, “The University of Florida is uniquely positioned to lead this country through an era of disruption. The single biggest challenge our nation faces is the radical disruption of work. Technology is changing everything about where, when, why, what, and how Americans work— and so it's changing our homes, neighborhoods, and communities too.”
He added, “This time is different because the University of Florida is very different: I think Florida is the most interesting university in America right now.”
In his farewell speech on the Senate floor on Jan. 3 Sasse said, “When we’re being honest with each other, which usually means when on one of the very rare occasions where cameras aren’t present, we all know that a big chunk of the performative yelling that happens here and in every hearing room is just about being booked for even more performative yelling at night on TV,” according to The Hill.
“Our wrestling together, Nebraskans and me, over the last eight years has had some marked ups and downs, as you gave me victories in all 93 counties … and then made me the most censured public official in the history of Nebraska over the next six years, but then proceeded two years ago to reelect me again,” Sasse recalled. “Many times it felt like a noogie and a slap and a head butt and a hug all at once.”
In 2016 he described Trump in a way that set the tone for their interactions that followed, “Mr. Trump’s relentless focus is on dividing Americans, and on tearing down rather than building back up this glorious nation,” he said according to The Independent.
“Much like President Obama, he displays essentially no understanding of the fact that, in the American system, we have a constitutional system of checks and balances, with three separate but co-equal branches of government.
Sasse, already at odds with Trump throughout his presidency crossed the proverbial line for many when he voted to convict the former-president for his alleged role in the January 6th Capitol Riot in 2021.
“The president repeated these lies when summoning his crowd — parts of which were widely known to be violent — to Capitol Hill to intimidate Vice President Pence and Congress into not fulfilling our constitutional duties,” the Nebraskan claimed, adding, “Those lies had consequences, endangering the life of the vice president and bringing us dangerously close to a bloody constitutional crisis. Each of these actions are violations of a president’s oath of office.”
In a somewhat celebratory post to Truth Social, Trump took note of Sasse's resignation saying, “Great news for the United States Senate, and our Country itself. Liddle’ Ben Sasse, the lightweight Senator from the great State of Nebraska, will be resigning. If he knew he was going to resign so early in his term, why did he run in the first place? But it’s still great news! The University of Florida will soon regret their decision to hire him as their President….”
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