Senator Jeff Flake On White House Behavior: We Can’t Continue To Remain Silent | Morning Joe

SENATORS UNTIL JANUARY OF 2019. >> ALL RIGHT.
LET'S GO REPUBLICAN SENATOR JEFF FLAKE, THE MAN WE'VE BEEN
TALKING ABOUT, OF ARIZONA RIGHT NOW.
YOU KNOW, JEFF, YOU WERE THE TEA PARTY BEFORE THE TEA PARTY.
I WAS, IN '95, ALSO WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT WERE THE TEA
PARTY BEFORE THE TEA PARTY CAME INTO EXISTENCE.
HOW BIZARRE IS IT THAT IN 2017 A GUY LIKE YOU THAT WAS LOATHED BY
LEADERSHIP BECAUSE YOU WERE SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS WHEN IT CAME
TO SMALL GOVERNMENT NOW SUDDENLY YOU'RE A PART OF WASHINGTON,
YOU'RE A PART OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.
YOU ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY CONSERVATIVE?
>> I'M NOT SURE WHEN THAT TRANSFORMATION HAPPENED BUT ALL
OF A SUDDEN, YEAH. I'M A RHINO, REPUBLICAN IN NAME
ONLY. REPUBLICANS HAVE CHANGED QUITE A
BIT, THAT'S ALL I CAN SAY. >> SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS
COULDN'T NAME A SINGLE VOTE THAT WOULD MAKE YOU INSUFFICIENTLY
CONSERVATIVE. YOUR RATING IS 96%.
TELL ME, WHEN DID THE BREAKDOWN BETWEEN THE WHITE HOUSE AND YOU
START IN EARNEST? >> WELL, DURING THE CAMPAIGN.
THE PRESIDENT, THE FIRST STATEMENT HE MADE WHEN HE RAN,
ONE OF THE FIRST ONES, TALKED ABOUT MEXICAN MIGRANTS AS BEING
RAPISTS AND THEN WENT ON TO TALK ABOUT JOHN McCAIN, HOW HE
COULDN'T BE RESPECTED. AND I SPOKE OUT THEN.
AND THEN THE JUDGE BORN IN INDIANA WITH MEXICAN HERITAGE,
THAT HE COULDN'T JUDGE FAIRLY BECAUSE OF THAT HERITAGE.
THOSE THINGS, I SPOKE OUT ON. AND I KEEP ASKING MYSELF AND
THOSE WHO DON'T LIKE IT, AT WHICH POINT SHOULD I NOT HAVE
SPOKEN OUT? I DIDN'T GET OFF ON THE RIGHT
FOOT, I GUESS, WITH THE ADMINISTRATION BACK IN THE
CAMPAIGN. BUT THAT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
FROM POLICY. THE PROBLEM IS, IT SEEMS NOW TO
BE CONSERVATIVE YOU HAVE TO BE ANGRY.
AND IT'S A DIFFERENT TYPE OF POLITICS THAN WE'RE USED TO, YOU
AND ME. >> SENATOR FLAKE, IT'S WILLIE
GEIST. GOOD TO SEE YOU THIS MORNING.
EVEN AMONG THE MANY PEOPLE WHO APPLAUDED YOUR SPEECH YESTERDAY
THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAID WHY IS HE LEAVING THEN?
IF HE FEEL THIS IS WAY, WE NEED HIM IN THE FIGHT.
TALK, IF YOU WILL, ABOUT THE CONSIDERATION NOT TO SEEK
RE-ELECTION. MANY PEOPLE WISH YOU WOULD STAY
THERE AND PUSH BACK AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP FROM WASHINGTON
AND NOT FROM THE OUTSIDE. >> THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT IF I
WERE TO RUN A CAMPAIGN THAT I CAN COULD BE PROUD OF AND WHERE
I DIDN'T HAVE TO COZY UP TO THE PRESIDENT AND HIS POSITIONS OR
HIS BEHAVIOR, I COULD NOT WIN IN A REPUBLICAN PRIMARY.
THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE. IT'S NOT THAT YOU JUST HAVE TO
MEET WITH THE PRESIDENT ON POLICY.
YOU CAN'T QUESTION HIS BEHAVIOR AND STILL BE A REPUBLICAN IN
GOOD STANDING, APPARENTLY, IN A REPUBLICAN PRIMARY.
SO, YOU KNOW, IN POLL AFTER POLL, YOU'LL SEE THAT MAJORITY
OF REPUBLICAN PRIMARY VOTERS -- THAT'S KIND OF A SUBSET OF A
SUBSET -- ARE FIRMLY BEHIND THE PRESIDENT'S POLICIES.
NOT ONLY THAT, IF YOU ASK THEM AS A WHOLE WHAT THEIR MOST
IMPORTANT POLICY ITEM IS, IT'S ARE YOU STANDING WITH THE
PRESIDENT? AND THEY TAKE ANY CRITICISM OF
THE PRESIDENT AS SOMEHOW SOMETHING THAT'S NOT
CONSERVATIVE. AND THAT'S WHAT'S GOT TO CHANGE.
IT REALLY DOES. AND I HOPE TO BE ABLE TO IN THE
NEXT 14 MONTHS SPEAK OUT CONTINUALLY.
I HOPE MY COLLEAGUES DO AS WELL. WE'RE ENTERING A TIME WE'RE
NORMALALIZING BAFR WE SHOULDN'T NORMALALIZE.
>> DO YOU THINK THAT'S UNIQUE TO ARIZONA?
>> NO, IT'S NOT. >> THAT YOU CAN'T GO OUT, BE WHO
YOU ARE, A PRINCIPLE CONSERVATIVE, OFFER YOUR IDEAS
ON POLICY BUT SAY I DISAGREE WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP ON A, B,
AND C. IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE A
PRINCIPLE CONSERVATIVE ANYMORE? >> I THINK IT MAY BE MORE
PRONOUNCED IN ARIZONA BUT IT'S NOT UNIQUE.
MY COLLEAGUES ARE FINDING THAT AS WELL.
IT'S REALLY CHANGED, THE TYPE OF POLITICS THAT WE ARE EXPECTED TO
ENGAGE IN. >> YEAH.
NOT EVEN SURE WE WOULD CALL IT POLITICS.
NORMALIZING BEHAVIOR WE SHOULDN'T BE NORMALIZING.
LAST WEEK, WE HAD A SENATOR ON, TALKING ABOUT HEALTH CARE.
I COULDN'T GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER AND I SAID HAS THE PRESIDENT
EVER LIED? HE SAID THE PRESIDENT DOESN'T
LIE, THAT THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS IN HYPERBOLE.
IS THAT WHAT YOU MEAN BY NORMALIZING BEHAVIOR THAT WE
SHOULDN'T BE NORMALIZING? >> I THINK SO.
I SAID IN THE SPEECH LAST NIGHT THAT WE ARE EXCUSING
UNDIGNIFIED, OUTRAGEOUS, RECKLESS SPEECH AND BEHAVIOR AS
TELLING IT LIKE IT IS. YOU KNOW, THE PRESIDENT IS NOT
POLITICALLY CORRECT. THAT'S NOT RIGHT.
I THINK WE OUGHT TO SAY THIS IS SPEECH THAT IS RECKLESS AND IT'S
UNDIGNIFIED. AND UNTIL WE DO, WE ARE
COMPLICIT IN NORMALIZING THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR.
>> SENATOR, YESTERDAY YOU SAID WHY DIDN'T YOU DO SOMETHING?
WHY DIDN'T YOU SPEAK UP, IN REFERENCE TO THIS POINT IN TIME
POLITICALLY. YOUR COLLEAGUES, IT'S VERY RARE
TO HEAR ANY OF YOUR COLLEAGUES, OTHER THAN SENATOR CORKER THIS
WEEK, SENATOR McCAIN, SPEAK UP. IS IT FEAR?
IS IT COWARDICE? IS IT AMBITION?
DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS? WHY SO SILENT IN THE REPUBLICAN
MAJORITY IN THE SENATE? >> WELL, A LOT OF IT -- THERE
WAS A JOKE THAT PAUL RYAN MADE IN THE SPEECH, I THINK, AT THE
DINNER LAST WEEK THAT HE HAS TO WAKE UP AND READ TWEETS AND SEE
WHICH ONES HE HAS TO DENY HE SAW.
AND THERE IS SOME FATIGUE ABOUT IT AS WELL.
THERE'S SO MUCH COMING OUT, YOU CAN'T RESPOND TO EVERYTHING.
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT. BUT ON THE WHOLE, WE CAN'T
CONTINUE TO JUST REMAIN SILENT WHEN THE PRESIDENT KEEPS GOING
ON LIKE THIS. THERE IS A FATIGUE ABOUT IT.
THERE REALLY IS. THERE'S JUST SO MUCH.
YOU CAN'T RESPOND TO EVERYTHING. BUT ON THE IMPORTANT THINGS WE
NEED TO STAND UP. >> KASIE?
>> KASIE HUNT, SENATOR FLAKE. NICE SO SEE YOU THIS MORNING.
THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPORTIVE OF YOU THAT I HAVE
HEARD FROM BUT WHO ALSO HAVE SOMETHING OF A CRITICAL QUESTION
OR STATEMENT. THEY'RE SAYING ACTIONS SPEAK
LOUDER THAN WORDS. WHAT DO YOU DO NOW TO ACTUALLY
MAKE A CHANGE IN THE LEADERSHIP? WHAT DO YOU DO BEHIND THE SCENES
IN THE SENATE? WHAT CAN YOU DO IN POLITICS
GOING FORWARD? >> CERTAINLY IF THE PRESIDENT
CARRIES FORWARD ON SOME OF THE THREATS THAT HE HAS MADE -- FOR
EXAMPLE, ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT, TO GO AFTER, YOU KNOW, NEWS
ORGANIZATIONS, PULL THEIR LICENSE WHEN HE DOESN'T LIKE THE
NEWS THAT THEY'RE PROVIDING, IF THERE ARE THINGS ON THE POLICY
FRONT, BOY, WE BETTER STAND UP ON THAT.
AND I'M CONFIDENT THAT WE WILL. IT'S MORE ON NORMALIZING THE
BEHAVIOR SIDE THAT I THINK WE HAVE FALLEN DOWN ON AS A WHOLE.
SO I HOPE THAT WE SPEAK OUT AND JUST SAY, THIS IS UNDIGNIFIED.
THIS IS BENEATH THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT.
WE'VE GOT TO STAND UP. BOB CORKER HAS BEEN CONCERNED
ABOUT OUR FOREIGN POLICY. WE'VE GOT TO HAVE FOREIGN POLICY
THAT'S PREDICTABLE AND SOBER AND CONSISTENT, PARTICULARLY AT THIS
TIME, WITH NORTH KOREA AND THE SITUATIONS WE'VE FACING
WORLDWIDE. THESE THINGS MATTER.
THEY MATTER A GREAT DEAL. THAT'S WHY BOB IS SO CONCERNED
AND I SHARE THESE
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Senator Jeff Flake On White House Behavior: We Can’t Continue To Remain Silent | Morning Joe | MSNBC

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