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Jeff Flake said that he did not expect that many other prominent Republican elected officials will assume the duties of Trump 's critics after leaving office, the skeptical Bob Corker of Tennessee. | Saul Loeb / Getty Images)
Elections
The outgoing Arizona senator does not rule out a candidacy for 2020. John Kasich or Ben Sasse would be good too, he said.
Jeff Flake said Friday that a Republican had to challenge Donald Trump for his nomination to the presidency in 2020. And it could be him.
Flake at least gave some credence to the widely held assumption that he could organize a delusional primary campaign against Trump, as the retiring senator worries about the state of the party. The Arizona GOP senator, who recently visited New Hampshire, definitely retains his name.
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"I have not ruled out, I have not ruled, just one of the supporters must be Republican," Flake said Friday during a long conversation with POLITICO and The Hill on Friday. said Ohio Outgoing Governor John Kasich and Nebraska GOP Senator Ben Sasse could give Trump a credible challenge.
Flake insisted that Trump's popularity within the party was ruining the long-term viability of the GOP and predicted that only a brutal electoral loss could spell it out.
"I hope somebody does [run], just to remind Republicans what it means to be conservative and what it means to be decent. We have to bring it back, "said Flake. "You can mount the base for a cycle or two, but it uses very little. Anger and resentment are not a guiding philosophy. "
Flake was willing to comment on one thing: a return to the Senate in the near future. A Senate seat is open in Arizona in 2020, but the first-named senator made it clear that it was not for him. "It's not in the cards, man … but I do not swear politics," he said.
Before retiring, the gentle-minded but careful Republican is planning a brutal legislative battle with Trump before retiring. He plans to enact legislation to protect special advocate Robert Mueller. The odds are long: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes the proposal is useless even after Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been deported. And it's easy enough for Republicans to stop Flake's demands for votes unless he and his Democratic allies insist that his plan be included in the spending legislation.
Still, Trump takes note of it, attacking Flake on Twitter on Friday for advancing the Mueller bill.
"Jeff Flake (y) does not want to protect the special advocate confirmed out of the Senate, he wants to protect his future after being indelible in Arizona for the" crime "of doing a terrible job! and inefficient! "says Trump.
On Wednesday, the president also took credit for pushing Flake to his post. After publishing an inspiring book Trump, Flake announced last year that he would not run again.
So, on the question of his own political viability, Flake said Trump was right.
"In a sense, he did it. The price to pay for a Republican primary was to stand on a stage with the president again and again, while insulting minorities and ridiculing Republicans, Democrats and Americans, "said Flake. "I could not do that. So, in a sense, yes. I will give him credit. "
In many ways, Flake leaves the Senate as a man without a constituency. The liberals and conservatives out of Washington have little regard for him: the left says that he is talking a good game but does not support him, the right sees him as an enemy of the president.
But Flake is appreciated by most of his Senate colleagues and teamed up with Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) On Mueller's bill. Coons said in an interview that he should pursue another office, Flake "has a very compelling story to tell."
"He has gained credibility by taking tough positions against a president who can severely criticize whoever questions him," said Coons. "He's a very conservative guy … I do not know what the next six months could bring."
Flake said that Kasich seems to form an organization to challenge Trump and that Sasse "would be a strong candidate" if he ran against the president. James Wegmann, a spokesman for Sasse, said the senators were friends "but it's a rumor of DC and let's be honest: when senators talk about senators, the only people who really care are senators. "
Nevertheless, it is hard to overestimate Flake's concern about the state of his party and how he hopes Trump will be primarized. He has repeatedly said that the GOP "can not be Donald Trump's party," but he also acknowledged that the president could still be re-elected even though he thought his party would ultimately be sentenced to a series of Electoral trials.
That Trump can win again "depends on where applicable, there is no alternative on the Republican side.And second, if the Democrats nominate someone on the far left, it is possible Flake said.
Flake said he was not expecting that many other prominent Republicans elected to assume the duties of Trump's critics, after he and his skeptical colleague Bob Corker of Tennessee left office. . As long as people want to win the Republican primaries and Trump will be president, they will continue to assemble in Trump, he said, and the situation will only get worse with a Democratic House that would investigate and upset the president.
"The natural inclination, because the president somehow asks for his loyalty, is to support your party, to support your tribe," Flake said. "So you're going to see that it's really much more than what we saw in the past, it will not be a good picture."
He added: "In the end, it will deter the people we need to sue – suburban women, graduates of higher education – this will only accelerate." [their] departure of the party. "
