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):
At the very outset of the interview, Simons asked Flake directly whether he supported Trump for president. "No," Flake said. "I'd like to. It's not a comfortable position not to support the nominee of the party." Watch Flake's entire appearance here.
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