But Sasse is standing his ground. In the video released Thursday, he blamed Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that left a police officer and four others dead.
“Now, many of you are hacked off that I condemned his lies that led to a riot. Let’s be clear: the anger in the state party has never been about me violating principle or abandoning conservative policy. I’m one of the most conservative voters in the senate. The anger has always simply been about me not bending the knee to one guy,” Sasse said, looking directly at the camera to address state party officials.