Republican senator asks Trump if he's 'recanting oath' over war with press.

PHOTO: Senator Ben Sasse on Capitol Hill in Washington, 

DC on Wednesday, June 21, 2017. 

(Ron Sachs/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Donald Trump's ongoing war with the media over "fake news" escalated on Wednesday with the president calling for networks, and specifically NBC, to have their licenses revoked over reporting what he called "pure fiction." And one Republican senator inserted himself in the middle of the fight Wednesday evening.

Trump took issue with an NBC report which said he had asked Pentagon officials if they could increase nuclear weapons stockpiles "tenfold."

The White House and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis denied the report.

Trump's threat to pull NBC's license drew Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., into the fight. The centrist Republican Sasse is a frequent right-wing opponent of the president.

Sasse released a statement asking if the president was recanting his oath of office due to his challenge of the First Amendment.

"Mr. President: Words spoken by the President of the United States matter," the brief statement reads. "Are you tonight recanting the oath you took on January 20th to preserve, protect, and defend the First Amendment?"

The tweet containing Sasse's question had received about 9,000 retweets and 19,000 likes within the first three hours of posting.

It did not elicit a response from the president.

By Mark Osborne.
Full story at Yahoo News.