© Greg Nash
GOP Sen. Ben Sasse
Benjamin (Ben) Eric SasseOvernight Health Care — Sponsored by America's 340B Hospitals — Push for cosponsors for new 'Medicare for all' bill | Court lets Dems defend ObamaCare | Flu season not as severe as last year, CDC says Senate approves border bill that prevents shutdown The Hill's 12:30 Report — Presented by Kidney Care Partners — Lawmakers scramble as shutdown deadline nears MORE (Neb.) joked on Tuesday that GOP Sen. John McCain
John Sidney McCainPence met with silence after mentioning Trump in Munich speech Mark Kelly's campaign raises over M in days after launching Senate bid The Hill's 12:30 Report — Presented by Kidney Care Partners — Lawmakers wait for Trump's next move on border deal MORE (Ariz.) affectionally referred to him as a "stupid bastard" on "a regular basis."
Benjamin (Ben) Eric SasseOvernight Health Care — Sponsored by America's 340B Hospitals — Push for cosponsors for new 'Medicare for all' bill | Court lets Dems defend ObamaCare | Flu season not as severe as last year, CDC says Senate approves border bill that prevents shutdown The Hill's 12:30 Report — Presented by Kidney Care Partners — Lawmakers scramble as shutdown deadline nears MORE (Neb.) joked on Tuesday that GOP Sen. John McCainJohn Sidney McCainPence met with silence after mentioning Trump in Munich speech Mark Kelly's campaign raises over M in days after launching Senate bid The Hill's 12:30 Report — Presented by Kidney Care Partners — Lawmakers wait for Trump's next move on border deal MORE (Ariz.) affectionally referred to him as a "stupid bastard" on "a regular basis." Sasse added that he was "convinced that he didn't use the term 'stupid bastard' lightly -- he reserved it for those he really cared about."
Sasse was one of nearly 20 senators who took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to remember McCain, who died on Saturday after battling brain cancer for more than a year.
Many of McCain's colleagues have humorously recounted McCain's well known temper and his penchant for giving people he liked otherwise negative sounding nicknames.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham
Lindsey Olin GrahamPence met with silence after mentioning Trump in Munich speech The Memo: Trump and McCabe go to war Graham seeks new Rosenstein testimony after explosive McCabe interview MORE (S.C.) separately referred to himself from the Senate floor as McCain's “political wingman, code name little jerk.”
Lindsey Olin GrahamPence met with silence after mentioning Trump in Munich speech The Memo: Trump and McCabe go to war Graham seeks new Rosenstein testimony after explosive McCabe interview MORE (S.C.) separately referred to himself from the Senate floor as McCain's “political wingman, code name little jerk.”Sasse recounted during his speech how McCain talked about how he and fellow prisoners would tap out messages to each other at the "Hanoi Hilton," the prison where McCain and others were held during the Vietnam War.
"I said 'how long did it take to do that,'" Sasse said about the code system. "And he looked at me like I was just a complete idiot. And he said 'what did I care? What the hell did it matter to me, we had infinite time.'"
