Sasse says odds of 2020 run are low

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Sunday said it is unlikely that he will launch a primary challenge against President Trump in 2020, claiming the “odds are a lot higher that I run for the noxious weed control board of Dodge County, Neb., than that.”

“I lived on a campaign bus for a year, 16 months, five years ago and in my mind, I still have flashbacks of a lot of kid puke on the floor of a bus,” Sasse quipped on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

{mosads}”For me, I don’t really think a lot about what job I have,” he added. “I think a lot about the country’s challenges and what we should be focused on. I’m pretty happy living in Nebraska and going to D.C. five days a week trying to serve the best I can.” 

But CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Sasse toward a more definitive response, saying that the GOP senator was not saying the possibility is “zero percent,” prompting Sasse to dodge the question again.

“Jake, I think right now we spend way too much time talking about campaigning in this country and way too little time talking about governing,” Sasse replied.

Sasse in recent days has admitted that he regularly thinks about leaving the GOP, raising speculation that he might run against Trump as an independent candidate. 

The Nebraska senator on Sunday said he thinks about exiting the Republican Party “every morning when I wake up,” denouncing both parties for promoting negative messages. 

“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 and neither of these things are really worth getting out of bed in the morning for,” Sasse said.