Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake is hoping that Donald Trump is a political panderer instead of the unapologetic racist and sexist reactionary heβs shown himself to be. Rep. Martha McSally says she has concerns but will use the next five months, as needed, to decide her vote.
We need more to go on.
Maybe hope is too strong a word for Flakeβs position. But when we spoke Wednesday afternoon by phone, Flake, a Republican, sounded like a man who wishes he could wake up from a bad dream. Donald Trump is his partyβs presumptive nominee for president, and thatβs put Flake in a pickle.
βI hope to be able to support him, this is not a comfortable position to be in,β Flake said. βBut given some of the positions heβs taken β the ban on Muslims, a religious test, this latest attack on the judge where heβs calling an American judge born in Indiana a βMexicanβ and what he means by that, what he wants people to infer from that.
βItβs just too much,β he said. βWe shouldnβt countenance that kind of behavior in the party, particular in our nominee.β
Flake has left himself some wiggle room, but his speculative rationalization on why he would change his mind is flimsy.
βI hope he comes around, walks back those statements, apologizes. When you make mistakes, you apologize,β Flake said.
Hereβs where Flake sounds a lot like a guy who wants β really, really wants β to believe.
βIβm not aware of evidence that he was discriminatory, or anything that shows he believes what heβs saying. Itβs not part of his business record. Itβs something he seems to be saying for the election,β he said.
So maybe Trump is just lying about what he thinks to get votes.
This is somehow better?
βHe has said heβs an unapologetic birther,β Flake continued. βI donβt know how anybody seriously, any right-thinking person who can still believe that canard. But I think he knows a lot of Republicans believe it and heβs willing to pander to them.β
Flake is waiting for Trump to change his tune. βI donβt know if he thinks these things,β he said.
I think Flake is grasping at straws. Trumpβs entire campaign consists of him saying ridiculous and offensive things and then patting himself on the back for his brilliance. He tells the world he says exactly what he means, even when β especially when β some people donβt want to hear it.
The closest Trump has gotten to caring what the Republican Party leadership thinks was conveyed in a statement he released Tuesday in response to the uproar heβd sparked when he said, repeatedly, that an Indiana-born judge overseeing the lawsuit against his Trump University canβt be fair because heβs βMexicanβ and Trump is going to βbuild a wall.β
Trump didnβt say heβd made a mistake, only that his comments had been βmisconstrued.β
The fact is, uncomfortable as it makes Republicans like Flake, Trumpβs noxious views have resonated with enough of their partyβs voters to make him the presumptive nominee. And itβs not only the racist and sexist things heβs said. Itβs Trumpβs simplistic and echo-chamber world view, with America as the bully bossing everyone else around. Itβs his promise to make trade deals that are so beautiful we wonβt believe it, and to create jobs by telling private companies what to do.
βThese are difficult compromises that you make when you enter into trade agreements, they have to benefit both countries if theyβre bilateral and all countries if theyβre multilateral,β Flake said. βItβs almost as if he wants to turn the clock back to a time to when we manufactured more things than we do now, when there was only one superpower in the world and we dictated the terms.β
Flake said heβs never met Trump, and when I asked why he thinks Trump doesnβt believe what heβs saying, he pointed to Trumpβs business record. Flake said he didnβt look into his record himself, but is relying on what heβs seen β or hasnβt seen β reported in the media. Trump has hired women in executive positions, itβs true, but he also has a lengthy and well-documented record of calling women pigs and worse, being vulgar when talking about women who question him and openly criticizing his female employeesβ appearance.
Flake isnβt the only member of the Arizona delegation who has expressed concern, if not outright alarm, about Trumpβs ascent. Democrats Rep. Raul Grijalva and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick have been openly critical.
Republican Sen. John McCain supports Trump.
But Rep. Martha McSally, a Republican from CD 2 who is running for re-election, hasnβt endorsed or disavowed Trump. I inquired this week, and her office emailed this statement from her:
βWeβre in unchartered waters with two presumptive nominees who are viewed unfavorably by the majority of Americans. More specifically I have concerns about statements Mr. Trump has made regarding women, Hispanics, and others, including unacceptable comments recently about a federal judgeβs ethnicity, but I also respect the will of the voters.
βThere are five months until Election Day and I will use that time as needed to determine my vote.
βIn the meantime, we have serious issues ahead of us and I hope this election becomes more about a battle of ideas and solutions while making the case for who should be the next Commander in Chief in a dangerous world.β
She continued, βSouthern Arizonans elected me to do a job representing them, not because of my affiliation with any past or future presidential candidate, and I am all-in on doing that job.β
McSallyβs communications director, Patrick Ptak, added that no one who attended recent local events, like a job fair or health center visit, asked her about Trump. βThe media fixation on Trump is not reflected in the events we do or the people we meet,β he emailed.
We should be asking this question, and the answer, including an explanation of oneβs thought process, like Flakeβs present quandary, is meaningful. Itβs a test of character, of party brand loyalty versus personal principle.
The implications of some questions reveal more than the answer alone.
βDo you support Donald Trump for president?β is just such a question.
