Sasse: I think about leaving the GOP ‘every morning when I wake up’

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Sunday said he considers leaving the Republican Party “every morning when I wake up,” doubling down on his comments earlier this week that he regularly thinks about exiting the GOP to become a “no-party” voter.

“I probably think about it every morning when I wake up and I figure out, ‘Why am I flying out of Nebraska to go to D.C. this week? Are we going to get stuff done?'” Sasse said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

“I’m committed to the party of Lincoln and Regan as long as there’s a chance to reform it,” he said. 

{mosads}Sasse, an outspoken critic of President Trump and his own party, said he is disillusioned with the negative messaging coming from both parties.

“Frankly, neither of these parties have a long-term vision for the country,” Sasse said. “These parties are really pretty content to do 24-hour news cycle screaming at each other.” 

“The main thing Democrats are for is being anti-Republican and anti-Trump, and the main thing the Republicans are for is being anti-Democrat and anti-CNN,” Sasse added. “And neither of these things are really worth getting out of bed in the morning for.” 

The Nebraska senator said that he has long considered himself an “independent conservative who caucuses with Republicans.” 

“I’m one of about eight people in the U.S. Senate who’s never been a politician before and I think I’ve been saying for about three years that I consider myself an independent conservative who caucuses with the Republicans,” he said.

Sasse on Saturday made headlines for a tweet in which he said he regularly considers leaving the GOP. He responded to a Twitter user who said they switched from being a member of the Democratic Party to being a “no-party” voter and asked the GOP senator if he ever considered following suit.

 ““Yep — regularly consider it (except the ‘from Dem’ part),” Sasse wrote. 

yep — regularly consider it
(except the “from Dem” part) https://t.co/ZZCQKOPhL9

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) September 8, 2018

Multiple Republicans up and down the ballot have resigned from the party over the last year in protest of Trump and the party’s response to the president.

“This party used to be for some pretty definable stuff and frankly, neither of these parties are for very much more than being anti,” Sasse said on CNN. “It’s pretty boring stuff. I’d love to see the party of Lincoln and Regan get back to its roots.”