Jeff Flake has had some good moments in his career as a U.S. senator, but as he runs out the clock on his final term in office, he seems more interested in endearing himself to liberals — or just positioning himself for a presidential run in 2020:
Jeff Flake for president brewing… https://t.co/h8XDIrTAx3 via @dcexaminer https://t.co/L2a4BhCc33
— Paul Bedard (@SecretsBedard) February 6, 2018
Anyway, here’s what he said:
Sen Flake just now: "I have seen the president’s most ardent defenders use the now-weary argument that the president’s comments were meant as a joke, just sarcasm, only tongue in cheek. But treason is not a punchline, Mr. President."
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) February 6, 2018
Sen. Flake: "Words matter. Have we arrived at such a place of numb acceptance that we have nothing to say when a President of the United States casually suggests that those who choose not to stand or applaud his speech are guilty of treason?" https://t.co/xr60gvI1ar pic.twitter.com/DkDUL4Tukq
— ABC News (@ABC) February 6, 2018
Sen. Jeff Flake: "We will get through this period. And when we do, we will look back at the destruction of our discourse and the attacks on our democratic values as nothing but a tragedy. May we also be able to say that they were an aberration." https://t.co/xr60gvI1ar pic.twitter.com/s2fgzxSvXw
— ABC News (@ABC) February 6, 2018
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Flake was responding specifically to Trump’s remarks about Democrats who didn’t stand and applaud him during his State of the Union Address:
“It got to a point where I really didn’t even want to look too much during the speech over to that side because honestly it was bad energy. It was bad energy,” he said at a manufacturing plant a Cincinnati suburb.
“You’re up there, you’ve got half the room going totally crazy wild, they loved everything, they want to do something great for our country. And you have the other side even on positive news, really positive news like that, they were like death and un-American. Un-American.”
Appearing to play off the crowd, he added: “Somebody said ‘treasonous.’ I mean, yeah, I guess, why not? Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean they certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.”
Were Trump’s remarks stupid? Well, yeah. Did they suggest he needs to brush up on what qualifies as “un-American”? Definitely. But Trump’s tone-deafness or ignorance doesn’t exactly constitute the “tragedy” Flake says it does.
Mr. President, treason is not a punchline. pic.twitter.com/iQXyzHfTKS
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) February 6, 2018
No, it isn’t a punchline. Unfortunately, Flake is at risk of becoming one himself.
…are you still here? https://t.co/VOYt0ceArc
— Mitch G, Thats Me. (@mgcat) February 6, 2018
Reminder: Flake is so thoroughly despised by the voters who know him best that he had to drop out of a reelection bid more than a year in advance to avoid embarrassment. https://t.co/QXLIZ9Cs7j
— SFK (@stephenkruiser) February 6, 2018
The MSM is lionizing Flake, who is being forced out of office for abandoning & lying to his constituents. Just sayin'…
— SFK (@stephenkruiser) February 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/960972705032962048
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