Former GOP Sen. Ben Sasse revealed Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and does not have long to live.
In a lengthy statement on X, the 53-year-old said bluntly: “Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”
“Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all,” the former senator from Nebraska added. “Still, I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad.”
Sasse was elected to the Senate in 2014 and was re-elected to a second term in 2020. Weeks later, he was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Donald Trump of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot — drawing fierce criticism from fellow GOPers.
In January 2023, Sasse left the Senate to take up the post of president of the University of Florida, where his appointment was protested by students and faculty due to his opposition to same-sex marriage, stances on other LGBTQ issues, and lack of experience running such a large institution
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Sasse left the university presidency at the end of July 2024 after his wife Melissa was diagnosed with epilepsy, though he continued to teach at the school.
Ben and Melissa Sasse have three children, including one daughter in the US Air Force, a second daughter who recently graduated college and a 14-year-old son.
“I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight,” Sasse wrote. “One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape.”
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