This Republican senator wants the GOP to give up on Donald Trump

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake (R) said on a local PBS program on Sunday that he does not support Donald Trump and would like to see other supporters of the GOP direct resources away from the candid
(Image credit: Getty Images)

After months of failing to shore up the support of his party, Republican standard-bearer Donald Trump last week decided to shake up the top of his campaign. By ousting chairman Paul Manafort in favor of Breitbart News chief Stephen Bannon and longtime GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway, Trump gave many the impression that he was no longer interested in attempting to moderate for the general election — something some top Republican strategists suggested may be the final straw for the party moving to re-allocate its resources elsewhere.

Sitting Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake (R) took the speculation of party discontent one step further over the weekend, when he appeared on an Arizona PBS program. In a clip unearthed by BuzzFeed, Flake told host Ted Simons outright that if he had his "druthers," he'd gladly see the Republican Party move its resources away from Trump and toward other down-ticket races (starting at 2:15):

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Kimberly Alters

Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.