This is really interesting – while Jeff Flake is out there saying pretty true things about the age of Trump in the Republican party, he might be exaggerating that they are the reasons he’s not seeking re-election.
Ben Shapiro explains in a scathing twitter thread.
Flake blaming his fall on Trump and the supposed inability of the base to support good people is disingenuous and cynical. (/1)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 24, 2017
Flake was deeply unpopular for years and was going to lose. Not because of Trump. Because he broke faith with his base. (2/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 24, 2017
Blaming Trump and Trump voters is a way of playing hero while quitting because he was going to lose. (3/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 24, 2017
The media will eat it up because anyone who badmouths Trump (and I agree with many Flake critiques) becomes a tragic hero. (4/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 24, 2017
Trump is happy to play into that story because it makes him look powerful. Flake wants to play tragic hero. Media love the conflict. (5/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 24, 2017
So, in the end, this is cynical politics, as always, and sheer BS generally. Trump is not the party or the future of conservatism. (6/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 24, 2017
He is the president and a vehicle for the base's anger and desire to stop Democrats. Good people can still be elected. (END)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 24, 2017
And then there’s Erick Erickson, who seems to agree with Shapiro’s assessment:
Oh poor Jeff Flake. Jeff Flake got bullied out of Washington by Trumpism. Flake is such a nice guy and there is no room for nice guys in the GOP any more. I am seeing all this all over social media and it is such horse crap.
Jeff Flake is leaving the Senate because he is a crappy politician who built his brand as one thing, used it to get to the Senate, then betrayed that brand once there.
Flake has the right message about principle and standing for conviction, but Flake has not done that. He is now, with the help of a willing press corps and Republicans who dislike President Trump, trying to claim he is the victim of the President’s wrath and he is standing on principle. If only that were true. Ben Sasse is doing it, without writing a book about it, and has a HAFA score of 94% and a Club for Growth score of 100%.
Both men talk the same talk, but only one of them is really walking the walk. Jeff Flake has the right message. He’s just the wrong messenger because he does not really believe it and is not really living it. So spare me your hot takes and conventional wisdom on Flake.
DAAAAANG!! Savage. And probably correct. Neither Shapiro nor Erickson are Trump water carriers – they have no agenda reason to deride Flake. If anything, as Trump critics themselves, if they were dishonest, they’d just go along with his critiques… and that’s why they’re worth listening to.