GOP Sen. Ben Sasse says he hasn't heard 'a single congressional Republican' dispute the election in private

Republican House members and at least one senator are lining up to oppose President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 win. But Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) says that's not what's happening behind the scenes.

On Jan. 6, when Congress meets to certify the presidential election results, some Republicans are planning to object to the results. It's a last-ditch attempt to overturn Biden's win, after multiple recounts proved it was legitimate and dozens of court challenges failed to change the results. But despite all the pressure from his own party, Sasse wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Thursday that he won't be joining their "dangerous ploy."

Sasse went on on to break down what he thinks is the "truth" about the Jan. 6 certification, as well as voter fraud in the 2020 election. For starters, it's not only "unwise" for Congress to oppose the results; there are no state election results "in doubt" either, Sasse wrote. And after analyzing several court battles and fraud allegations, he came to the same conclusion as former Attorney General William Barr: There was no large-scale fraud that could've changed the election results.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Privately, Sasse said his fellow Republicans agree. "I haven't heard a single Congressional Republican allege that the election results were fraudulent —not one," Sasse wrote. "Instead, I hear them talk about their worries about how they will 'look' to President Trump's most ardent supporters." But while these "ambitious politicians" see their opposition efforts as "a quick way to tap into the president's populist base without doing any real, long-term damage," they're wrong, Sasse continued. And if they don't start working with Democrats to "rebuild trust" in self-government, "we're going to turn American politics into a Hatfields and McCoys endless blood feud — a house hopelessly divided," Sasse finished.