GOP Senator Attacks “Reckless, Outrageous” Trump

Republican Senator Jeff Flake has said US President Donald Trump’s “impulse to threaten and scapegoat” could turn the US into “backward people”.

Flake, in a dramatic speech on the Senate floor, launched a fierce attack on the US president, saying American politics had become hardened to “reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior from the White House”, Sky News reported.

He lamented what he called the “flagrant disregard of truth and decency” in politics, saying: “Heaven help us.”

The Arizona senator announced he would not run for reelection next year.

Flake was one of two Republican senators who launched fierce attacks against Trump, with Bob Corker, who has also said previously he is not running for reelection, earlier calling Trump a liar who has damaged the country’s standing in the world.

The White House responded by saying it was “probably a good move” that Flake was not running for reelection.

Flake said his decision to leave America’s upper chamber was motivated by his being out of step with his party.

“There may not be a place for a Republican like me in the current Republican climate or the current Republican Party,” he said.

But he went on to say that there were times when one must put principles and one’s career ahead of party politics and he could no longer remain silent.

He said the efficacy of the US leadership around the globe was coming into question as the country gave up on its principles in favor of anger and resentment.

The “instinct to scapegoat and belittle threatens to turn us into a backward-looking people”, he said.