Democrats, meanwhile, have tried to put GOP candidates in a corner over Trump, but potentially vulnerable senators have also been quick to try to create distance.
“I’m going to run an independent campaign,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) told reporters when about the potential impact of Trump’s rhetoric. “I’m in a high profile race and I’ll be able to do that. It is Ohio.”
While Republican lawmakers, including Portman, have been hesitant to completely disavow Trump as long as he’s still leading the field, his recent push to ban Muslims from entering the country has emboldened senators to increase their criticism of Trump.
Sasse’s so-called “thought experiment” wasn’t the first time he’s taken a swing at the GOP frontrunner.
In the wake of Trump’s comments, he suggested that a lack of leadership is pushing voters toward the businessman.
“A megalomaniac strongman steps forward, and he starts screaming about travel bans and deportation, and offering promises to keep all of us safe,” the conservative freshman senator said in a thinly veiled reference to Trump.
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