Former Sen. Ben Sasse announces he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer and is ‘gonna die’
Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse announced Tuesday that he’s been diagnosed with “metastasized, stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”
“Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do,” Sasse, 53, wrote on X.
“I’m blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, ‘Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.’ Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all.”
Sasse represented Nebraska in the US Senate from 2015 to 2023 before resigning to serve as the 13th president of the University of Florida. He resigned as university president last year to focus on taking care of his family after his wife was diagnosed with epilepsy.
In the Senate, Sasse was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial in relation to the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
His frequent criticism of Trump drew the president’s ire; Trump called the Nebraska Republican a “grandstanding, little-respected senator” during a 2022 rally.
“I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight,” Sasse wrote on Tuesday.
