Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) Called on his Republican Party to rebuild itself and “reject the nonsense that has set our party on fire” in an op-ed for The Atlantic Saturday about the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Why it matters: Many of the mobs involved in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots carried items in support of the far-right QAnon, and a prominent member of the cult was among those arrested after the siege.
- Several Republicans who came to Congress last year publicly supported or defended the QAnon movement or some of its principles – something Sasse noted in his op-ed, with the headline “QAnon is destroying the GOP from within.”
- Sasse blames the violence on “the flowering of a rotten seed that took root in the Republican Party some time ago and was fueled by betrayal, bad political judgment and cowardice”.
Driving the news: Sasse wrote in his op-ed that “Until last week, many party leaders and advisers thought they could preach the Constitution with a nod to QAnon.”
- “They can’t,” he added. “The GOP must reject or be consumed by conspiracy theories. Now is the time to decide what this party is about.”
- Sasse criticized House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) For not denouncing QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) When she ran for Congress in 2020.
- “She has already announced plans to oust Joe Biden on his first full day as president,” Sasse wrote. “She will fool herself, her constituents and the Republican Party.”
Worth nothing: Sasse said before the House charged President Trump a second time that he would “certainly” consider all charges against him because of his conduct and comments at a rally before the riot.
- The Nebraska Senator criticized Trump’s embrace of QAnon supporters last August, warning that Democrats could “take the Senate” and that “trash like this will be a big part of why they won.”
- Months later, the Democrats took control of the Senate.
It comes down to: Sasse wrote that his party faces a choice when Trump leaves office: “We can commit to defending the constitution and perpetuating our best American institutions and traditions, or we can be a party of conspiracy theories.”
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