WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Dan Osborn said leaked audio insulting Trump supporters sounded like him but called the remarks out of character.
  • Osborn offered a conditional apology and said the discussion concerned angry and disenfranchised voters.
  • Sen. Pete Ricketts accused Osborn of mocking hardworking Nebraskans and looking down on voters.
  • Earlier audio captured Osborn discussing Republican vote targets, progressive issues and abolishing ICE.

Independent Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn addressed leaked audio Wednesday in which a speaker who appeared to be him said Trump supporters have lives that “suck so f**king bad.”

On CNN, Osborn said the voice sounded like his while calling the remarks out of character.

The audio, obtained by The Omaha World-Herald, appeared to capture Osborn demeaning Trump supporters in Nebraska and claiming they support President Donald Trump because he is “on the winning team.”

“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,” the speaker who appeared to be Osborn said.

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“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 bad.”

Osborn was asked about the recording during an appearance on CNN’s “Inside Politics with Dana Bash.”

He responded, “It sure sounds like me,” but said the comments sounded “out of character” for him.

“I talked to a tremendous amount of people and, again, I don’t remember the context of this one particular conversation, but it certainly does sound out of character for myself,” Osborn said.

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“I’ve always lived by the golden rule, treat others like you want to be treated, and if somebody was offended by this, certainly I would apologize to those people that might be offended, but I got to tell them I feel their pain. I absolutely feel the pain. We’re all angry right now, and sometimes when you’re angry you say some things.”

During the CNN interview, Osborn insisted the recording did not reflect what he truly thinks about Trump voters.

He instead framed the conversation as being about voters who are angry and “disenfranchised.”

“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.

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He captured people who are angry about the political system, and Trump ran outside of that as an outsider,” he said.

Osborn compared that appeal to his own independent campaign and his decision to run outside the two major parties.

“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.”

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Osborn’s opponent, incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts, told Fox News Digital, “I've been to Red Cloud. I've been to every corner of Nebraska. The people Dan Osborn is mocking are the hardest-working people in America. They don't need a candidate who looks down on them. They need a senator who fights for them. That's what I do every day.”

The controversy follows another recording obtained earlier this month by Fox News Digital.

In that audio, Osborn discussed the share of Republican voters he believed he needed and suggested distancing himself from progressive issues to appeal to them.

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“The state is made up of 50% Republicans, 26% Democrat, 24% independents. So my win numbers, mathematically, I have to get probably 10-15% of Republicans to win this race. How am I going to do that by f**king saying, ‘Oh, I love trans people, and they should be able to play in sports?’” Osborn said.

“F**k no, Jane, that’s not how I win. I win by sh*ting on the party.”

Another clip featured Osborn discussing immigration enforcement while acknowledging that people were recording him.

He was heard saying, “I have people recording me, so I can’t say I want to abolish ICE. I can’t say those words. I’ll be f**ked.”

Osborn has insisted he is independent of both parties.

His campaign was predominantly funded by left wing donors and activist organizations such as ActBlue, while Osborn has predominantly supported other Democrats’ campaigns.

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