“Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior”: Sen. Flake quits the Senate over Trump

He called Trump “dangerous to a democracy.”

In a surprise announcement, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) confirmed Tuesday he would not be running for reelection in 2018.

“None of these appalling features of our current politics should ever be regarded as normal,” Flake said in a fiery floor speech. “We must never allow ourselves to lapse into thinking that is just the way things are now. If we simply become enamored to this condition thinking that it's just politics as usual, then heaven help us.”

“Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior has become excused as telling it like it is when it is actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified,” he said, referencing President Trump. “And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else. It is dangerous to a democracy.”

The senator, who has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics — even penning a scathing critique of Trump in his book “Conscience of a Conservative” — The Arizona Republic that “there may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican Party.”

Flake was in a difficult position for 2018. Faced with an early challenge from a far-right candidate Kelli Ward in the primary, the Arizona incumbent was already sinking in the polls.

Ward, a former state senator, has had Trump’s support over Twitter, and has repeatedly attacked Flake from the right for being against the president and soft on immigration. She also supported Trump’s initial comments on the Charlottesville attack, reiterating there was hate on “both sides.”

“Here’s the bottom line: The path that I would have to travel to get the Republican nomination is a path I’m not willing to take, and that I can’t in good conscience take,” Flake told The Arizona Republic in a telephone interview. “It would require me to believe in positions I don’t hold on such issues as trade and immigration and it would require me to condone behavior that I cannot condone.”

Flake’s announcement will put a big question mark over the 2018 Arizona senate race. Though a state has a heavy conservative tradition, it also has a large Hispanic population that Democrats hope to fire up. And Trump’s increasingly low approval ratings and willingness to denounce the incumbent candidate certainly aren’t helping the party’s chances.

Trump has had it out for Flake for a long time

Trump’s inner circle has had it out for Flake for quite some time.

According to a Politico report, White House officials met with “at least three actual or prospective primary challengers to Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake,” including Ward:

At a Republican National Committee meeting outside of San Diego in May, David Bossie, Trump’s deputy campaign manager and the president of the influential conservative outside group Citizens United, told Graham that either he or DeWit would likely get substantial backing from conservatives should either enter the contest, according to three people familiar with the conversation.

A second Politico report earlier in July alleged that Trump floated spending millions of dollars out of his own pocket to oust Flake, who has been openly critical of his presidency:

In private, Trump has spoken of spending $10 million out of his own pocket to defeat an incumbent senator of his own party, Jeff Flake of Arizona, according to two sources familiar with the conversation last fall.

Flake has vocally opposed Trump throughout his campaign and presidency. He refused to support Trump’s nomination, repeatedly expressed skepticism over Trump’s alleged ties with Russia, and dampened expectations on the Republican agenda, contradicting Trump’s desire for fast policy wins. He tweeted against Trump’s comments on Charlottesville.

Early on, Flake’s campaign said they were not worried about the possible primary challenges Trump could be negotiating with behind the scenes — but that sentiment clearly soured over time, to the point that the senator no longer felt he could run.

"This spell will pass, but not by next year," Flake told Arizona Central.

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