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In the span of five minutes Thursday, Ben Sasse may have torched whatever relationship he still had with the Republican Party in his home state.

But in releasing his direct-to-camera video deriding a brand of politics animated by “the weird worship of one dude,” Sasse also seized a piece of political real estate that might yet have some value if the Nebraska senator runs for president in 2024.

At the moment, those occupying the anti-Donald Trump lane in the post-Trump GOP are in danger of being run over. But in the event the party’s fervor for the former president fades to any degree, or there is a rethinking of Trump’s behavior in office, Sasse may be better positioned than anyone to capitalize.

His video ricocheted around the Republican universe on Thursday night and Friday not because it was critical of Trump — as Sasse and other traditionalists have been before — but because it so directly challenged Trump’s most ardent supporters.

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Sen. Ben Sasse said in an interview on Friday that President Donald Trump was “delighted” by Wednesday's chaos in Washington D.C. that saw rioters battle with law enforcement as they busted into the Capitol building and ransacked it.

“As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building,” Sasse told interviewer Hugh Hewitt. “He was delighted.”

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Hewitt asked Sasse, a Republican, if he thought Trump intended for the riot to happen.

“I think Donald Trump wanted there to be massive divisions, and he was telling people there was a path by which he was going to stay in office after January 20th. That was never true. And he wanted chaos on television. I don’t have any idea what was in his heart about what he wanted to happen once they were in the Capitol, but he wanted there to be chaos."

Later in the interview, Sasse added, “This is a part of a pattern. The guy is addicted to division. This is a deep brokenness in his soul. You and I have talked about it multiple times. Donald Trump is a guy who hurts.”

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I think Donald Trump wanted there to be massive divisions, and he was telling people there was a path by which he was going to stay in office after January 20th. That was never true. And he wanted chaos on television. I don’t have any idea what was in his heart about what he wanted to happen once they were in the Capitol, but he wanted there to be chaos, and I’m sure you’ve also had conversations with other senior White House officials, as I have.

HH: I have.

BS: As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building.

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BS: The Republican National Committee is not a healthy organization. As you know, in the 2016 campaign, I campaigned for almost everybody not named Donald Trump. And it became pretty clear that the RNC as a structure was, you know, akin to a fueled up 747 sitting on a runway that could be hijacked by almost anybody with a big brand. And that’s what happened. And I’ve made it pretty clear that I think it’s pretty dangerous for the party of Lincoln and Reagan to become a party of, you know, a lot of QAnon nonsense and a lot of TV obsession and a lot of narcissistic trolling. Our party needs to be bigger than one personality, and I hope that the Republican National Committee is thinking hard about how we serve our kids by trying to put forward an argument that can speak to 70%, and frankly that could speak to 90% of America. And right now, we don’t do that. I mean, you saw that in Georgia.