- "The least effective of our 53 Republican Senators, and a person who truly doesn’t have what it takes to be great, is Little Ben Sasse of Nebraska," Trump tweeted.
- The statements came after Sasse, in a Wednesday call first reported by the Washington Examiner, told constituents that Trump mishandled the pandemic, "kisses dictator's butts," "sells out allies," "mocks evangelicals," and has "flirted with white supremacists."
What he's saying: James Wegmann, Sasse's spokesperson, tweeted Saturday morning that, "Ben said the same thing to Nebraskans that he has repeatedly said to the President directly in the Oval Office."
- "Ben is focused on defending the Republican Senate majority, and he's not going to waste a single minute on tweets," Wegmann added.
Between the lines: Sasse, who was endorsed by President Trump in 2019, is running for re-election in Nebraska, where the president currently leads over Joe Biden by eight points, according to a recent Axios/SurveyMonkey poll.
- But Biden's national polling lead against Trump has widened to double-digits. The former VP holds a narrower advantage in states needed for an Electoral College victory, such as Florida and Pennsylvania.
- The GOP is also fighting to keep control of the Senate. Of the 12 incumbent Republicans believed to be facing competitive challenges, the Cook Political Report has rated seven as "toss ups" and two as "lean Democratic."
- Sasse has been a critic of the president in the past, but remained largely silent while he was fighting to win the GOP nomination in the Nebraska primary this May.
The big picture: Since May, however, Sasse has appeared to ramp up criticism of the president, with Trump often shooting back.
- In August, after Sasse said "the pen-and-phone theory of executive lawmaking is unconstitutional slop," referring to Trump's executive orders, the president retorted, calling the Republican senator a "RINO," meaning "Republican in name only."
Go deeper: Ben Sasse emerges as GOP Trump critic ahead of November
