Nebraska independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn confirmed the authenticity of leaked audio where he appeared to criticize Trump voters, stating it 'sounds like me.' He apologized for any offense but defended the sentiment by saying 'we’re all angry right now.' Osborn is challenging Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts with Democratic party support, aiming to capitalize on voter frustration.
Nebraska independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn on Wednesday appeared to confirm the authenticity of a leaked recording in which he is purported to criticize voters who support President Donald Trump. “Billy Bob in f**king Red Cloud, Nebraska, who lives next door to the f**king Trump store as you pull into town and is waving the Trump flag … all he knows is he’s like on the winning team,” a speaker said in audio obtained by the Omaha World-Herald. “He’s been so effective at taking Billy Bob and his wife Mary Jane or Mary Jo and telling them, look we’re winning. You’re on the winning team. And that’s all they care about, because their lives probably suck so f**king.” Asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on “Inside Politics” if he was the speaker, Osborn replied, “It sure sounds like me.” “I don’t remember the context of this one particular conversation, but it certainly does sound out of character for myself,” he said, adding, “I would apologize to those people that might be offended, but I gotta tell them, I feel their pain. I absolutely feel their pain. We’re all angry right now and sometimes when you’re angry you say some things.” Osborn, running as an independent in ruby red Nebraska, is challenging Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts. Democratic party leaders decided to stand down and support Osborn, leaving no Democrat on the ballot, in hopes of ousting the incumbent in a state Trump carried by roughly 20 points in 2024. A Navy veteran and former union leader, Osborn is running on a populist, working-class message, blending support for labor and some abortion rights with backing for gun rights and tougher immigration enforcement. Osborn defended his outreach to voters across the state, including those who support Trump. He told CNN he’s visited 55 counties on his tour with less than two months until Election Day. “I talked to a lot of Trump voters and … I’m talking about people are pissed off, people are disenfranchised, especially, and that’s what Trump captured in Nebraska. He captured people who are angry about the political system and Trump ran outside of that as an outsider,” he said. That’s what people like about Trump. It’s why I’m running again as an independent running outside the political system, because I’m tired of the two-party doom loop.” While Osborn has said he will not caucus with either party if elected, Democrats believe a unified challenger could put the seat in play, as their party fights to break Republicans’ narrow Senate majority. Party leaders sought to clear the primary field for Osborn after his surprisingly competitive performance in 2024, when, running as an independent, he lost a closer-than-expected race to Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. Two years later, Osborn is hoping to capitalize on voter frustration with both the right and the left and cost of living concerns that have only grown since the start of the Iran war. “That’s why people are angry. That’s why I’m angry. And I think you know anybody who hears this and knows me understands that’s where it’s coming from,” he told Bash on Wednesday.
