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Sasse Slams Trump on First Amendment

Asks if he is recanting his oath of office

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said President Donald Trump violated his oath of office when he threatened TV network licenses. (Tom Williams/Roll Call File Photo)
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said President Donald Trump violated his oath of office when he threatened TV network licenses. (Tom Williams/Roll Call File Photo)

Sen. Ben Sasse criticized President Donald Trump for threatening to challenge licenses of television networks, saying he had violated his oath of office to defend the Constitution.

The Nebraska Republican tweeted his response to Trump and posted a statement saying Trump was abdicating his constitutional duties.

“Are you recanting of the Oath you took on Jan. 20 to preserve, protect and defend the First Amendment?” the tweet read.

Sasse’s statement came in response to Trump’s tweets on Wednesday, in which the president criticized NBC for a news story and asked, “at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License?”

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who ran against Trump in the presidential primaries, retweeted Sasse’s message.

But Sasse also had his critics, as Fox News host Sean Hannity, who interviewed Trump on Wednesday, called Sasse “just useless.”

Violating the oath of office is an impeachable offense, but Sasse gave no indication of any action he would take.

The Twitterverse called on the senator to do more than simply tweet his sentiments.

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