Former Senator Jeff Flake, who has been mentioned as a possible primary challenger to Donald Trump in 2020, suggested that it would be better if a Democrat won the election in 2020 rather than Trump being re-elected.
Flake made his comments at a forum sponsored by the nonprofit Intelligence Squared. He was joined on stage by columnist Bret Stephens and Trump supporters Liz Peek and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
Moderator John Donvan asked Flake if he would rather see Trump lose if he is the party’s standard-bearer in 2020.
“Are you willing to lose a cycle for the Republican Party because of the principles that you’re arguing?” Donvan asked.
“Oh yes, yes,” Flake responded, citing Trump’s policies on issues such as immigration. Flake said that while those policies were supported by the president’s base, they hurt the Republican Party over the long run.
“It can galvanize people for a while, maybe for a cycle or two. But in the end, it turns people off. It turns off minorities. It turns off women,” said Flake, noting that anti-immigration policies such as those pushed by former Gov. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) hurt the GOP in The Golden State.
Flake knows full well what electing a Democrat in 2020 means. With the socialist left in the Democratic Party growing stronger by the week and all semblance of moderation being tossed away, we are more than likely to get a radical socialist president hell-bent on “transforming” America in the image of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Bernie Sanders.
And what guarantee is there that the GOP would only lose one cycle? Has Flake been listening to the “electoral reform” proposals from these radicals? It’s not just getting rid of the Electoral College. Some proposals from these people have included giving illegals the right to vote in federal elections, “ranked choice” voting, “ballot harvesting,” — all to make elections “fairer,” and “more inclusive.”
It’s a recipe for a one-party state, run by radical socialists. And this is what Flake supports?
Flake was asked what the GOP should do if Trump remains the nominee.
“You sacrifice a generation, and you think, ‘Man, we might get some policy goals in the next year or two,'” Flake said. But he hoped the party took a longer view.
“Look at the long term. Look at the long term, at what you’re doing for the party, because people don’t want to be associated with it,” he added.
The former Arizona senator also said arguments claiming Trump is the only electable Republican candidate in 2020 are flawed.
“We would certainly like it to be a Republican. And this notion — this narrative that’s been built up that Donald Trump is the only one that can cobble together the Electoral College and win is just a fallacy,” Flake said.
Flake isn’t deluded enough to believe he could do it, is he? Trump may not win re-election, but any other candidate that overthrows him will shatter the Republican Party, making it impossible for anyone else to win. Democrats would win in a landslide.
Flake is a fool. He is used to dealing with garden-variety liberals who care more about winning than about being “pure” in their politics. The Democratic front runners today are putting a premium on “purity” because that’s what the Democratic base is demanding.
Listen to Bernie Sanders. Listen to Elizabeth Warren. Listen to Kamala Harris. Even if Harris and Warren claim not to be socialists, in order to win the nomination, they are going to have to become slaves to the socialist agenda.
Flake prefers to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
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