President Trump is not one to treat his foes lightly, and unfortunately, in recent days, some of his loudest critics can actually be found in the Republican Party.
Most readers are probably aware that Arizona Senator John McCain, who’s the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is no friend of President Trump’s, despite offering the president initial half-hearted support during McCain’s quest for a sixth term in the Senate (which he won after much outside money was poured into the race). But even before the 2016 election, McCain switched off his endorsement of Trump and became an ardent critic, going so far as to pass on the so-called “Dirty Dossier” on the president-elect that was assembled by a British intelligence officer to former FBI Director and Trump accuser James Comey.
But currently serving in the Senate along with McCain is another Trump critic who in some ways is almost as bad as McCain — junior Arizona Senator Jeff Flake. Flake has been a consistent critic of the president since before Trump took office. In October of last year, when the infamous “Access Hollywood” audio tape leaked to the media, Flake called up Trump personally to reprimand him for the content of the tape and ask that he withdraw from the presidential race. This made Trump “furious,” to use the president’s word.
In the wake of this and other rebellious acts, former Arizona state senator Kelli Ward (who ran against McCain in 2016 and lost) stated she will challenge Flake (who she’s referred to as “Flake the Snake” for criticizing Trump) for his Senate seat in 2018. Trump previously met with Ward last year. It’s worth noting that Flake presently enjoys only a 37-percent approval rating among Arizona voters. Also considering running against him are Arizona State Treasurer Jeff DeWit and the former chairman of Arizona’s state Republican Party, Robert Graham.
Prior to a huge rally in Phoenix (to which Trump flew on Air Force One with DeWit), the president met with these men briefly and referred to the currently sitting senator as “Jeff the Flake,” according to sources. Lending support for a run by either DeWit or Graham was Arizona Congressman Trent Franks, who’s a member of the Congressional Freedom Caucus, a noted conservative group.
In his speech at the rally, Trump criticized Flake by saying the senator was “weak on the border and weak on crime.” Trump added that “nobody knows who the hell [Flake] is!” After the rally, Trump tweeted these same remarks almost verbatim after referring to Flake in another tweet the previous week as “toxic.”
Former State Senator Ward was enthused with the crowd’s reaction to Trump’s words. “I thought it was great,” she said. “I thought what he said about Flake was exactly right.” However, despite Ward being outspoken in her support of the president, not all Arizona Trump fans are supporters of the former state senator. Don Tapia, a heavyweight GOP donor in Arizona, said, “I will not support Kelli Ward. You can quote me on that.”
In the meantime, Flake is far from finished with Trump. In August, the senator published a book entitled “Conscience of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle,” in which he further attacks Trump on free trade, unwillingness to grant immigrants amnesty and numerous other issues. In the book, Flake proudly refers to himself as a globalist.
In addition to promoting his book, Flake used excerpts of it for an opinion piece on the liberal website Politico in which he bashed the president. In the Politico piece, Flake fondly recalls a time when Congressmen “felt an institutional loyalty that would create bonds across party lines… in a unified front against the White House, regardless of the president’s party.” Flake claims the “Faustian bargain” conservatives made in supporting Trump “isn’t worth” its cost.
Another issue Flake and Trump have not seen eye to eye on is Trump’s recent pardon of Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was accused of racial profiling in his staff’s conduct, resulting in a misdemeanor conviction. Flake stated that he “would have preferred that the president honor the judicial process [in the Arpaio case] and let it take its course.” Both Senator McCain and Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan concurred with Flake’s view, with McCain saying that Trump’s action “undermined” the president’s previously stated “respect for the law.” In defense of his pardon, Trump took the position that Arpaio was only trying to do his job in relation to the deportation of illegal immigrants.
In addition to Jeff Flake, another Republican member of Congress that President Trump has slammed lately is Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. After the recent violence at a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, President Trump drew fire for his comments, in which the president blamed both factions on both the Left and the Right for the tragic events. Corker responded by telling reporters, “The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate, in order to be successful” and that Trump had not “spoken appropriately to the nation” regarding the incidents. In response, Trump tweeted, “Strange statement by Bob Corker, considering that he’s constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in ’18. Tennessee not happy!”
This friction has been surprising to some Republicans who have noted that previously, Corker had dined with the president and golfed with him. Trump has also reportedly sought out Corker for foreign policy advice in the past. In July, Corker spoke of a warmer relationship, saying, “I can’t remember calling over to talk to the president and not being immediately put through and having a conversation with him. I can call him at 10 o’clock at night, and he’ll get on the phone. Or I can call him early in the morning, and he’ll get on the phone.”
Trump also denounced South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham for the latter’s criticism after Charlottesville, tweeting, “Publicity-seeking Lindsey Graham falsely stated that I said there’s moral equivalency between the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists… The people of South Carolina will remember!”
While Trump’s attacks on his own party and calls for new challengers in 2018 aren’t without precedent, it’s been a long time in anyone’s memory since a current president has gone to such lengths to defend his positions or political platform. Particularly in the Senate, the Republicans need all the votes they can get, and putting a GOP vote at risk in Congress’ upper chamber is an incredibly bold step, given the current political climate. Trump is running the risk of having more Congressional Republicans turn against him even as he’s being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Democrats are amping up talk of mental incompetency and impeachment.
Still, for Trump, who some opponents have labeled thin-skinned, these actions have not been entirely unpredictable. For some cynical observers, Trump’s pushing for newfound allies in Congress could be a way of distracting from his own legislative failures and/or policy reversals. As the midterm elections of 2018 draw nearer, it will be very interesting to see if the president intensifies these efforts.
