Posted on 09/02/2016 2:58:02 PM PDT by Hildy
BULLHEAD CITY — Arizona U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake says he still has issues with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and is unlikely to vote for him.
Flake, in Bullhead City on Wednesday, gave an exclusive interview to the Mohave Valley Daily News. “I’m not part of the ‘never Trump’ movement. I want to be able to vote for him, but I can’t see myself doing that, unless he changes the positions he’s taken and the language he’s used,” Flake said. “I don’t think he can win the presidency and if he doesn’t change the way he’s campaigned, I don’t think he should.” Flake said he strongly disagrees with Trump’s positions on trade. Flake said he supports the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump calls “the worst trade deal in history.”
Flake said he also favors the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which Trump has said will hurt American workers.
Flake said he supports accepting refugees from war-torn Mideast countries if properly vetted, while Trump has said the program of accepting Syrian refugees should be suspended.
Republicans who are not supporting Trump — or who are reluctant to — are facing sharp criticism from Trump supporters who said those Republicans are helping to defeat Trump.
Flake disagrees.
“I say exactly what I said to Donald Trump himself ... every Republican in Arizona could line up behind him and unify and it wouldn’t be enough,” he said. “We’ve got to persuade swing voters, independents, who, until a couple of months ago, outnumbered Republicans in the state. And he seems to be going out of his way to offend just about every swing voter out there. “ “And I see much more damage done to the (Republican) party and to the conservative movement by unifying, if you will, behind that intolerant message that he has that will impact not just this election but future elections as well.”
During the primary season, Flake favored presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
“I think if Marco was on the ballot now, we’d be running away with it. Hillary Clinton, her unpopularity is hitting new highs if it weren’t for Donald Trump. I’m really chagrined,” Flake said. “With Trump, I think those of us in the Republican Party who think he ought to run differently, we ought to tell him so. He’s unlikely to change if we’re telling him, ‘You’ve got to change.’ He’s certain not to change if we all say, ‘We’re behind you. We agree with you,’ ” Flake said.
Flake said he is especially concerned about polls that show younger voters overwhelmingly favor Clinton over Trump.
“Put another way, only one in five voters under age 35 is planning to pull the Republican lever and we consign ourselves to oblivion as a party if we latch onto that Trump message that is just repulsive to most young people. People will sometimes break their pattern of voting in later years but in general people tend to stick with how they first vote. That’s really death to us as a party,” Flake said.
Asked whether or not he thinks the Republican Party can maintain its control over the Senate, Flake quoted analysts who have said if the election were held today, the Democrats have a 60 percent chance of taking the Senate. Republicans hold 54 seats in the 100-seat chamber, but their seats in at least six states are vulnerable.
“So, I’m glad the election isn’t today. And I would expect a lot of Republicans, between now and November, will distance themselves from Donald Trump,” Flake said. “You’ll see a lot of advertising kind of in the name of checks and balances: You’re going to have a Democrat in the White House, you’ve got to have a Republican Senate to check that. That’s what we did in ‘96 when Dole was the candidate (running against President Bill Clinton). Everybody knew that he probably wasn’t going to win ... and we picked up three seats in the Senate that year. So I do think that we can maintain (a majority) but if we all adopt the Trumpian message I think we’ve lost hope,” he said.
Flake said he does not believe the Republican control of the House of Representatives is in jeopardy but he does think the party will lose some House seats. Regarding whether he will vote for Trump, Flake said, “I hope to be able to, but I’m losing hope that he’s going to change.”
Flake is serving in his first term as senator. He faces re-election in 2018.
Theirs are too, they just use the R so they can get more press time.
I know it quite well. Kelli Ward is a very good friend of mine. I can’t explain John McCain. He has power that only 30 years in government can give you. Jeff Flake is NO John McCain.
Leni
Well, he’s aptly named Flake isn’t he?
“And I see much more damage done to the (Republican) party and to the conservative movement by unifying, if you will, behind that intolerant message that he has that will impact not just this election but future elections as well.”
Hey Flake you idiot, if you think controlling our borders is “intolerent” then you don’t belong in the Republican party.
Save us all your self-admiring screeds and go join the other party.
with us or against us Flake!
Flake may be a one-term senator. He needs to stop getting his news from CNN, and taking classes in economics with Democrats.
Flake does not appear to understand the implications and likely effects of the Free Trade Agreement. How does it make American First?
To which billionaire does he owe his allegiance?
Against Trump = Supports Hillary. Why are they supporting Hillary? Because they always did. Why didn’t they stop obama? Because they supported him ( or at least the cheap labor.. aka one world or global “democracy” (socialism)
[You realize McCain was just re-elected by these same AZ voters, right? RIGHT?! ]
He won the primary. He has a harder slog to re-election.
politics is a team sport....either you play hard for your team or just get out of the way...
traitor....
True that. If you ever need any more empirical proof of that just look at any senator with a (D) next to their name.
These NeverTrumpers — how are they going to apologize to their kids and grandkids if Hillary wins and their futures suck? They’ll know he voted for her.
I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO look forward to voting against Flake in 2018! I’ll vote for his opponent in the GENERAL election, if need be!
“BULLHEAD CITY — Arizona U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake says he still has issues with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and is unlikely to vote for him.”
Really? Then get out of our party, dipshit.
Fkae is a globalist pos..probably takes money from Soros
TPP is evil and anti-american.
Yes! And ordinary people are the victims.
Flake, what an appropriate name.
Flake is a complete and total a@@.
He should be censured by a county GOP. Thus at least needs to go on party record
“Flake said he also favors the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which Trump has said will hurt American workers.”
How much was he paid for this?
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