Republican Senator Jeff Flake blasts ‘reckless, outrageous’ Trump
Arizona politician is the latest member of the GOP to quit rather than serve under the US President
Republican Senator Jeff Flake has launched an extraordinary attack on Donald Trump as he announced he would not be standing for re-election in 2018.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate, the Arizona politician said he was retiring at the end of his term because the GOP had “given in or given up on core principles in favour of a more viscerally satisfying anger and resentment” under Trump.
He added: “Reckless, outrageous and undignified behaviour has become excused and countenanced as ‘telling it like it is’ when it is actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Flake implored Republicans to “do away with the political considerations that have enabled Trump to challenge to norms of governance and basic decorum,” The Guardian says.
While the Senator is one of Trump’s bluntest Republican critic, his speech “represents a significant elevation of his rhetoric”, says The Atlantic.
Flake is the latest Republican to announce he is retiring due to the actions of Trump, following chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee Bob Corker, with whom the US President has been fighting a public war of words.
Prior to Flake’s speech, Corker told CNN that Trump’s presidency would be remembered for “the debasing of our nation, the constant non-truth telling, and the name calling”, adding: “I think world leaders are very aware that much of what he says is untrue.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Olympics 2024: is Paris ready to party?
Talking Point Build-up to this summer's Games 'marred' by rows over national identity, security and pollution
By The Week UK Published
-
Solo travel: the 'ultimate indulgence in 2024'
The Week Recommends Why more of us are choosing to go on holiday on our own
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'Stormy Monday for Don'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Trump's first criminal trial starts with jury picks
Speed Read The former president faces charges related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Making sense of FISA's strange bedfellows in Congress
The Explainer How a controversial intelligence gathering law is bringing progressive Democrats and privacy hawk Republicans together
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'This isn't judicial restraint — it's judicial activism'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Why are Republicans trying to change Nebraska's Electoral College vote?
Today's Big Question It's a chance for Donald Trump to block Joe Biden's path to re-election
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
House GOP scuttles FISA vote at Trump's urging
Speed Read Right-wing lawmakers blocked Speaker Mike Johnson's surveillance bill
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
To win the election, Trump is changing how elections are run
Under The Radar While the former president campaigns for a second term in office, he and his team have quietly been working to tilt the nation's electoral rules in his favor.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'What a difference a judge makes'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'For employers and their workers, welcome to a minefield'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published