Flake on Trump: I’m going to speak out until he changes tone of his campaign
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, one of the most outspoken Republican critics of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, said Tuesday that he will keep prodding Trump to change the tone of his campaign, even in the face of Trump's Twitter attacks and pressure from other Republicans.
“Hillary Clinton thinks she can win Arizona and it is because Donald Trump is unwilling to propose serious solutions to the problems facing our state," Flake said in a statement provided to The Arizona Republic just as he was to depart for Washington, D.C. "What Trump has been willing to do is say terrible things about women, mock the disabled, disparage minorities, impugn the character of POWs, and go after the Gold Star parents of a fallen U.S. soldier. I’m not OK with that, and I’m going to keep speaking out until he changes the tone of his campaign.
"If he refuses to do so, Republicans will lose a lot more than the election in November."
It's not clear what precisely set Trump off, but Flake made two appearances Sunday on national public affairs shows.
In those appearances, Flake reiterated that he cannot yet support Trump — even going so far as to say he wouldn't vote for Trump or Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, on Nov. 8. Flake also panned the immigration speech Trump delivered Aug. 31 in Phoenix, calling the celebrity billionaire's signature proposal to build a border wall at Mexico's expense not serious.
Flake has a long history as a proponent of comprehensive immigration reform. He was a member of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" that collaborated on an immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013 but went nowhere in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Later Sunday, Trump, who has 11.4 million Twitter followers, blasted Flake twice on the social-media platform.
While Flake got plenty of support on Twitter on Sunday, he also got some pushback from fellow Republicans, including Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham, who is making a bid to become Republican National Committee chairman.
Trump has engaged in public feuds with both of Arizona's Republican senators, neither of whom attended the Republican National Convention in July. Despite their differences, however, Sen. John McCain is backing Trump as his party's nominee.
McCain is up for re-election this year. Flake will next stand before voters in 2018.