One of President-elect Donald Trump’s toughest GOP critics on Thursday suggested protests against Trump are the result of “paid rioting.”
“Why don’t we have more reporting on paid rioting?” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) tweeted. “Who pays for it? How much? Why? Through what orgs? Who are the ‘workers’? Who recruits?”
{mosads}Protests broke out against Trump shortly after his election victory last week. The president-elect himself stoked speculation that the demonstrations were not legitimate, tweeting that “professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”
Sasse in subsequent tweets Thursday said he is especially curious about “pay+violence.”
“Some of you offer important distinction betw ‘riot’ & ‘protest’ – Fair,” he tweeted. “We shld know more on both. But I’m esp’ly curious about pay+violence.”