Former President Donald Trump shared his reaction after it was reported that Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) is expected to move on from politics and onto a role in education.
Politico reported Sasse is likely to accept a job offer for the position of president of the University of Florida and resign from his seat in the Senate soon, citing two people familiar with his plans.
The outlet noted Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts would then appoint someone to replace the senator under state law.
One person familiar with Sasse’s plans said Ricketts “himself is viewed as a potential appointee for the seat.”
On Thursday, Sasse took to Twitter to issue a statement on the matter.
Mentioning his wife, Sasse wrote, “Melissa and I have been pursued by wonderful institutions the past two years, but we’ve resisted being named a finalist. This time is different because the University of Florida is very different: I think Florida is the most interesting university in America right now.”
He later added, “I’m delighted to be in conversation with the leadership of this special community about how we might together build a vision for UF to be the nation’s most-dynamic, bold, future-oriented university.”
Read his statement below:
https://t.co/tGqSTUdOvT pic.twitter.com/az4FRgWvMU
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) October 6, 2022
Additionally, Politico noted the University of Florida issued a press release confirming Sasse’s plans and announced him as the finalist for the role.
During an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Sasse told the outlet “we need a lot more dynamic and interesting institutions serving 15- to 35-year-olds.”
He continued, “Higher ed institutions can no longer pretend that most people are going to be one and done.”
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to react to the news.
“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,” Trump wrote.
He suggested if Sasse “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.”
Trump’s post continued, “We have enough weak and ineffective RINOs in our midst. I look forward to working with the terrific Republican Party of Nebraska to get a REAL Senator to represent the incredible People of that State, not another Fake RINO!”
Sasse was one of the seven Republican senators that voted to convict Trump on an impeachment charge of inciting an insurrection in 2021.
