Sasse also responded to the controversy in a series of tweets, in which he expressed regret for not calling out Maher immediately: “Here’s what I wish I’d been quick enough to say in the moment: 'Hold up, why would you think it’s OK to use that word?...Hold up, why would you think it’s OK to use that word? The history of the n-word is an attack on universal human dignity. It’s therefore an attack on the American Creed. Don't use it,'" the senator wrote.